


In Another Life

by LERDM



Series: Batman Shorts [5]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: AU, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Jason reunites with the family, Protective Jason Todd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26585887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LERDM/pseuds/LERDM
Summary: In another life, Jason finishes his training with Ducra and actually takes the time he needs to come to terms with what has happened to him. He comes back to Gotham, not with murderous intent, but with the goal to make sure that no Robin is ever killed again.Basically, Jason protects the crap out of the Batkids while Bruce drives himself somewhat insane trying to figure out who the newest Gotham vigilante, Ghost, is.Side Note: This is a standalone story, don't get turned off of it because of the series tag! :)
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Series: Batman Shorts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760062
Comments: 351
Kudos: 848





	1. Chapter 1

Ghost crouched on a rooftop across from where Batman and Robin were confronting Scarecrow. The small, dark-haired boy was doing a good job at staying away from the hands of the madman, which were tipped with syringes containing his latest toxin.

However, it wasn’t long before the little bird slipped up and left himself exposed. Luckily, Batman stepped in but found himself on the receiving end of the fear toxin. Ghost moved in quickly and silently. 

Robin was startled when it appeared as if the man had materialized in front of him. He brutally handed down a beating to Scarecrow and Robin helped when he saw openings, but mostly the older man had it covered.

When he was done he turned to look at Robin, “If you knew what’s good for you, you won’t let him change you into a child soldier. I know you think this is fun, or important, but it’s not worth your life, little bird.”

His voice was rough, it had a distinct Gotham accent to it. “Who are you?” Tim asked.

“I’m a ghost, Timmy.”

Tim froze as the man leapt off the roof and into the shadows, Tim went to look over the edge and see where he’d gone, but the man had disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared.

Later in the cave, when Bruce had fully recovered from the toxin, Tim gave him and Nightwing a rundown.

“He was wearing white, like, all white. But I didn’t see him come into the fight, and when he left he was _gone_. I would have been able to see the white, but I couldn’t. He called me Timmy, and he said…” Tim trailed off, suddenly feeling uncomfortable saying the words in front of Bruce.

“Go on, Tim,” Bruce encouraged.

“He said that you turning me into a child soldier wasn’t worth my life. He knew my name,” Tim repeated. He still felt shocked by that reveal.

Bruce clenched his jaw. “He knows.”

Nightwing shook his head, “How? How could he know?”

“He might be a meta,” Tim said.

Bruce seemed uncertain. “If his meta-abilities are to teleport, or even to turn invisible at will, someone, as trained as you say he appeared, would have known to use that more to his advantage. He would have used it in his fight.”

Nightwing sighed, “Do you remember anything else that we might be able to work with?” He asked Tim.

“He had a Gotham accent, and I think he was younger, maybe younger than you, Dick,” Tim said.

Bruce nodded, “We’ll keep our eyes out. See if we can dig up anything else on this… Ghost.”

And watch they did. Over the next three months, they encountered Ghost five times. Each time he only seemed to appear when Robin was in danger. And each time, he appeared and disappeared with extremely improbable success due to his white uniform.

Then, something new started to happen. Spoiler came onto the scene like a firecracker and was soon a close companion of Robin’s.

Once, when she was out alone, she ran into some trouble with Black Mask that was a bit over her head. She was knocked unconscious, and she woke up tied to a chair in a warehouse. She wasn't too proud to admit that she was absolutely terrified.

Black Mask entered the warehouse. "Oh Spoiler, awake already? Excellent. We can get the fun started so much sooner than expected." One of his men handed him a drill, and Stephanie started desperately trying to untie herself, or at least put more distance between her and the man with the drill.

Then the screaming started. Stephanie felt strange saying it, but she was very relieved. Black Mask turned off the drill and took a step back.

"Find whoever this is!" He growled. He turned back to Stephanie and turned the drill back on. He was about two inches away from beginning to drill into her stomach, she was crying and screaming. And then Ghost was suddenly behind him, and had him in a chokehold with one hand, while with the other, he forced Black Mask to drop the drill to the floor. The man fell unconscious soon enough. Ghost tossed him to the side and began to untie Stephanie, who was still on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Look at me, Steph," Ghost said as he crouched in front of her. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Stephanie was trembling. "My-my back hurts and my ribs. And I have a concussion" They had roughed her up when they had first taken her.

Ghost nodded. "Okay, you're going to be okay. Just breathe." He walked her through breathing exercise after breathing exercise. "I don't want to start up your panic again kid, but he was going to kill you, do you understand that? He was going to kill you." Stephanie started to tear up. "Whatever high you get from doing this... will you promise me that you'll think about stopping, so that you get to live?"

She nodded slightly, even though they both knew she wouldn't stop.

"Okay, Batman and Robin are one minute away. Will you be alright until they get here?"

"Yes. Th-thanks. For... for saving my life."

Ghost nodded, and then he turned invisible, or at least, that's what Stephanie thought at first, but then she noticed that his uniform had just suddenly switched from white to black.

He left, and Stephanie curled into a ball, burying her head in her knees. Barely thirty seconds later, Batman and Robin burst into the warehouse.

"Spoiler!" Robin shouted desperately. He then noticed her and ran to her side. "Steph, are you okay?"

She nodded mutely.

Batman, after checking to make sure that the warehouse was clear, came up to them. He signalled for Tim to give them some space.

"Are you hurt?" He asked gruffly.

She shook her head.

He took her hand, and she looked up at him. "Stephanie, what happened?"

"Black Mask was going to kill me," she nearly whispered. "He was just about to-to" She stopped and a fresh round of tears sprung out of her eyes. Batman did something that had her frozen. He hugged her.

After a shocked moment, she buried her head in his shoulder and she sobbed. She spoke between hiccuping breaths about how Ghost had showed up and saved her and waited until they had come for her. Batman held her close until she was done.

"Okay, we're going home." Batman picked her up effortlessly and carried her to the Batmobile. She fell asleep on the way back to the cave.

When they got back, Alfred made sure the girl was alright while Bruce looked at the camera feed from her mask. It was terrifying to watch. If Ghost hadn't been there, they would have been too late.

What broke Bruce's heart further was Ghost's conversation with her after. Bruce couldn't say he didn't agree with Ghost. He would want nothing more than for his kids to give up the vigilantee life and be safe. Maybe she would, but he wasn't holding out much hope. He sent the footage to Barbara and called her.

"Christ," Barbara cursed under her breath. "We're lucky, we're so lucky he was there."

"I know," Bruce said. "Did you see his suit?" He asked to change the subject.

"Yeah, that's really, really impressive tech. I don't know of any place that has something like that. But it does explain how he moves around so incognito. Now that we know, it'll probably be easier for us to spot him."

Bruce nodded, though she couldn't see. "Thank you for your help, Barbara."

"Anytime, B. When Stephanie feels better, tell her to come over, I want to talk to her about something."

"Of course. Goodnight."

"Night, B."

Bruce sat down at the computer and rubbed at his eyes. Who was Ghost? How did he know where Stepahnie was before Bruce had known? How does he know the identity of Bruce's kids? There were so many questions and Bruce had the answer to none of them.

"Master Bruce, come upstairs and rest for a day. It has been a difficult night for everyone."

Bruce swallowed, "Alright, is Tim staying down here?"

They both glanced over to Stephanie's cot and to Tim, who was already passed out in a chair next to her.

"I will send him up in the morning," Alfred said.

Bruce nodded. He walked toward the stairs and stopped briefly to look at Jason's costume. That night, all he dreamed about was the boy who he had lost.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thank you all for the amazing response to this story! I haven't read anything that follows this line of reasoning before, so I wasn't sure how everyone would like it, but I am very pleasantly surprised, so thanks again!
> 
> I am feeling very motivated on this story at the moment, so new chapter already!

Dick felt like he was falling without a net. Everything that could have gone wrong did. Blockbuster blew up his entire apartment building, he killed so many people. Dick had only once wanted to kill someone more than he wanted to kill his man.

And then Tarantula showed up. Sultry and smooth and she offered to do what he wanted. The blood wouldn’t be on his hands, she promised. All he had to do was step out of the way. So he did. And the moment he did, Blockbuster was dead. He couldn’t believe himself. He ran.

He found himself on the roof, trying to get fresh air and breathe and stay calm. But he was failing desperately.

Then she showed up, and she pushed him to lay down, and then she-

“Don’t,” he croaked.

“Just relax, Nightwing, I’ll make you feel better,” she purred in his ear.

And then a streak of white slammed into the woman and tackled her off of him. He just couldn’t find the strength to get up and see what was going on. He shut his eyes.

Ghost slammed into Tarantula.

She screeched at him. “Who the hell are you?”

The man didn’t answer, instead attacking her with brutal efficiency. She was knocked out in half a minute.

Ghost then grabbed his phone. He found the contact he was looking for and then dialled.

“What?” A tired woman snapped on the other end.

“Detective Rohrbach,” Ghost began. “I’m an… associate of Nightwing’s. He’s injured and there’s a suspect here that needs to be dealt with.”

She was silent for a moment. “Where?” Ghost gave her the address. “I’ll be there in 15.”

“Come to the roof alone, the crime scene is on the lower floors.”

Ghost waited for the woman to arrive, and true to her word, she showed up 15 minutes after he hung up.

She looked to Nightwing’s sleeping form with concern. She turned to Ghost. “You’re from Gotham. I’ve seen you running around protecting those kids.”

Ghost ignored that. “He’ll be fine, I’ll take him home, but she-” Ghost pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards Tarantula. “-killed the man downstairs and she tried to sexually assault Nightwing.”

Amy’s eyes widened and then hardened as she glared at the woman. “She’ll be taken care of.” Ghost nodded and moved toward Nightwing. “Take care of him. I’ll tell the precinct that he’s sick.”

Ghost stared at Amy, not surprised that she had figured it out, but a little surprised that she told him that she did.

He eventually nodded, before scooping up Nightwing and leaving.

…

The doorbell for the manor went off at the obscene hour of 5:32 am. Everyone was awake and moved downstairs quickly.

Stephanie groaned. “It’s probably just a prank.”

“There’s insane security around here, if someone could get as close as the door to the manor without setting off some other alarm, we still have a problem,” Tim pointed out.

Alfred opened the door and gasped. Bruce was right there in a second.

Dick was asleep, leaning against the column at the door. He was wrapped in several blankets like a burrito. He had gloves on, and no shoes, but several layers of socks. There was a plastic bag next to him that contained his Nightwing suit along with a note explaining the situation. Nothing indicated who it was that had brought him here.

Bruce carefully carried the boy back to his old room. He started unwrapping the burrito and discovered that there were several heat packets within the layers to keep him warm.

He made sure that Dick was in good shape physically, and then he tucked him into bed and went down into the cave to examine the footage from the mask camera.

His face completely paled as he watched what happened. One terrible night, almost made worse, if it hadn’t been for Ghost.

He spent the rest of the night at Dick’s bedside.

When the boy woke in the morning, he was very confused to find himself in the manor.

Bruce tried to explain what happened without cluing Dick into the fact that he had somewhat infringed on his privacy by watching what had happened.

Dick didn’t care. He cried and Bruce felt so out of place, but he just held Dick’s hand and reassured him that he was going to be okay.

A few days later, there was an Arkham breakout. Tim and Stephanie went after the non-supervillains and Batman and Nightwing tackled the big hitters. Luckily, Joker hadn’t gotten out. Batman took Ivy and Nightwing took Two-Face.

Typically, the man was robbing a bank with several other criminals that had also escaped.

Nightwing was handling things pretty well. It was a little tricky though because there were so many of them.

Ghost showed up about halfway through and helped him finish off the rest of them.

“I take it that the kiddos are fine since you’re here with me,” Nightwing said to Ghost.

“I sent them home,” the other man grunted.

There was an awkward pause. “Thanks, for the other day. I… I don’t really know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up.”

Ghost didn’t reply directly to that. “You should move back to Gotham. Closer to family and easier for me to keep an eye on your circus ass, Grayson.”

Ghost jumped off the roof of the bank and his uniform changed to black. Now that Dick knew what to look for, it was easy to see the man grapple from building to building like it was nothing.

He headed back to the cave and arrived at the same time Bruce got back.

Tim and Stephanie were semi out of their uniforms and playing a card game.

“Hey guys, how’d it go?” Steph asked.

“It was fine, Ghost came and helped me out with Two-Face,” Nightwing said.

Bruce frowned, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, he basically just wanted to tell me that I should move back to Gotham because it’d be easier for him to keep an eye on me. Just for that, I’m gonna move to Kansas,” Dick said with an easy smile on his face.

“Yeah, Ghost came and dealt with all our stuff before we even got there and then told us to go home,” Tim confessed.

Bruce didn’t even know what to say at this point. Dick misunderstood his confusion. “Aww, don’t worry B, I’m sure he’ll come to your rescue sometime.”

Stephanie and Tim laughed at that, and they all went upstairs to get some shut-eye.

The next night, Batman went to check up with Gordon about the breakout.

“So, who is that Ghost fella?” Jim asked him. “He one of yours?”

Batman sighed. “I’m not certain. All he seems to do is follow around the kids and step in if there’s any trouble.”

Jim shrugged, “So… good guy then?”

“For now.”

Jim, as if reading his mind, put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s a shame he wasn’t around when… well, you know.”

Bruce swallowed. “I know.”

Jim stood there in silence. “He was a good kid. If I ever see the Joker again…” The threat was left unspoken, but known. “Anyway… about this string of robberies.”

* * *

Stephanie had been putting off going to see Barbara for a while. But after the breakout, Babs had been giving her not-so-subtle hints that she should come over.

So Steph went to the Clocktower at the end of her patrol.

“Hey Babs,” she announced, trying to sound casual and not at all nervous.

“Hey Stephanie,” Barbara said calmly. “So, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Right.”

Barbara smiled, she wheeled over to a box, covered with a cloth. She gestured for Stephanie to open it.

She did and then froze in place before a massive smile broke out on her face. “Babs! I- I don’t know what to say! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She hugged her mentor.

“Gotham needs a Batgirl out there, and I know you’ll do great.”

The next time Stephanie saw Ghost, she was dressed as Batgirl.

“Moving on up, eh, Steph?” He commented before disappearing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce makes lists. It's Tim's birthday. Bruce loves his kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this one is a little fluffy, because the next one is definitely not fluffy.

After the breakout, Ghost seemed to appear more often around the Bats, even when they weren’t in immediate danger. He would sometimes help them out with their cases, but if Batman ever showed up, Ghost would disappear.

“He must know you outside of the costumes,” Tim said one day. Bruce and Stephanie looked at him questioningly. “Think about it. Why would he avoid you? He’s helping you. So why not let you meet him in person? Because he’s afraid you’re going to recognize him.”

“But we have so much footage of Ghost, if there was something he did, you’d think B would have already noticed it.”

Tim considered that. “Okay, so… so then he doesn’t like you.” Tim’s eyes were alight with an idea. “He doesn’t like you, and it’s personal, nothing to do with Batman. But he doesn’t trust himself to be civil around you and thus doesn’t trust himself to keep his identity secret around you.” Tim looked to Bruce for verification.

“Good work Tim.”

Tim frowned. “You already figured that out.”

“I had theorized it. I’ve made a spreadsheet of possible identities,” Bruce said.

“Well come on then, pull it up!” Stephanie exclaimed.

Bruce grunted and opened Microsoft. There were two tabs in his spreadsheet, probable and other.

Tim eyed the ‘other’ tab, but he looked through the list of ‘probable’ first. The number one spot was the nondescript ‘League Assassin’. Then there was a list of people who knew Bruce and his kids who were roughly the same build and height as Ghost. Then there was Jean-Paul and then there was Hush.

Tim raised an eyebrow. “He could theoretically have the knowledge. Ghost and I are very similar in stature, so I didn’t rule it out, even though I have a difficult time imagining either of their motives,” Bruce explained.

“And what about the motives for a League Assassin?” Stephanie asked.

“First, the level of training. Second, Ra’s has shown an interest in Tim before, it wouldn’t be… overly outlandish to assume that he sent someone to make sure he wasn’t killed before Ra’s could enact whatever plans he has,” Bruce said. As he spoke he placed a reassuring hand on Tim’s shoulder.

“But then why save me? And why save Dick?” Stephanie protested. “And what about what he said to Tim the first time we saw him? How he didn’t want there to be child soldiers running around?”

“It’s not perfect. There are no perfect candidates,” Bruce sighed. “Hence my frustration.”

Tim moved the cursor over to ‘other’ and he blinked when he saw the list.

“B…”

“We’ve been ignoring his name. He’s been introducing himself as a ghost. We shouldn’t omit the idea that some sort of magic may be involved,” Bruce said. “I don’t really think any of these were options. Just brainstorming.”

  1. Thomas Wayne (reanimated to younger self?)
  2. Alfred Pennyworth (magic involved)
  3. Bruce Wayne (alternate)
  4. Dick Grayson (alternate)



“I have so many questions,” Stephanie muttered with wide eyes.

“Why is the second spot blank?” Tim asked.

Bruce shook his head. “Just a… formatting error.” Bruce quickly deleted the spot. Tim frowned.

“Okay, so… Alfred?” Stephanie asked, barely containing a laugh.

“He has the motive, he hates seeing you all hurt and he is very protective,” Tim said in Bruce’s defence. “But uh… yeah… old man.”

Stephanie giggled, “Tim, did you not read the brackets? Clearly there is magic involved.”

“Magic involved in what?” Alfred asked from right behind them.

All three of them screamed.

* * *

Ghost also seemed to know their birthdays. On Tim’s, the man gave the kid a cupcake with a ‘T’ written in the frosting and sat on the edge of the roof with him.

“Happy birthday, kid,” Ghost spoke gruffly.

Tim ate the cupcake and just enjoyed the view as he swung his legs back and forth.

“Hey, you aren’t Thomas Wayne reanimated and de-aged, right?” Tim asked out of the blue.

Ghost seemed like he had coughed on his spit as he sputtered at Tim.

“What? No,” he eventually got out. “Why the fuck would you think that?”

“I dunno, Batman seemed to think that you were either Thomas or Alfred but younger.”

Ghost just stared at Tim. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered under his breath. “Bruce is getting out of control. You’ve gotta reign him in, Tim.”

Tim grinned, “Okay, I’ll give it a try.” He was silent for a moment longer. “What’s your name?” Ghost didn’t answer. “It feels weird just calling you Ghost all the time.”

“That’s what I am.”

Tim poked Ghost’s arm. “I dunno, I don’t think so.”

Ghost swatted his hand away when it moved back in for another boney poke to the arm.

“For my birthday?” Tim said, laying on the puppy dog eyes.

Ghost stared at him. “No.”

“Oh come on!” Tim threw his hands up. “Fine, okay, what about your face? You already know what we all look like.”

“No can do, kid.”

Tim scowled, “Stop calling me kid, I’m 14.”

“Yep, basically an infant.”

Tim narrowed his eyes at Ghost and the man just laughed at him.

“Well, how old are  _ you  _ then?”

“Eh, sorta depends how you count.”

Tim blinked, “What?” He asked with exasperation.

“That’s all I’m gonna say. I know you’re a good detective, I’m not accidentally giving myself away.”

“Why does it matter? You’re clearly one of the good guys, so it’s not like we’re going to throw you in prison. You’ve kind of been a friend, actually. Almost like a brother.” Ghost was silent at that. “Dick said you reminded him of a boy he used to know, and Bruce… he left a spot on a spreadsheet for a kid whose name he couldn’t even type.”

“I’m not the boy they lost, Tim. I’m sorry.”

Tim nodded, “I didn’t really think so, but… thanks.”

Ghost ruffled his hair. “Stay out of trouble.”

“You too.”

Ghost jumped off the roof and Tim went back to the cave where Bruce, Dick, Steph and Alfred were waiting to surprise him with a cake.

He laughed and they had a good night as a family. Bruce and Tim were the only ones left in the cave later that night.

“Hey, B? I asked Ghost who he is.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Did he tell you?”

Tim shook his head. “He did say that he wasn’t any of the people on your ‘other’ tab.”

Bruce nodded and gave Tim a proud smile. “Nice work Tim.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Tim murmured tiredly. Bruce wrapped an arm around Tim and kissed the top of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, kids! Buckle up, next chapter coming tomorrow, and it's a doozy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian brings a new perspective on the identity of Ghost. Bruce loses hope in a miracle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you to everyone who has kudo-ed this story and a huge thank you to everyone who has left such encouraging comments, I love to see it!

Damian came onto the scene two months later. It seemed like the only person the child could interact with without someone getting stabbed was Dick.

He was a rambunctious scamp according to Dick. According to Tim, the kid was a pain in the ass.

The first time Damian met Ghost, he was in over his head. He hadn’t called for any backup, because he was an al Ghul, he shouldn’t have needed help fending off a gang of street thugs. Yet there he was, getting beaten.

Ghost dropped down and ruthlessly attacked the men. The way he fought reminded Damian a little of his mother and more than a little of the child she had lost before him.

Nearly all the men had run off or had been knocked unconscious and Ghost approached Damian.

Of course, Damian had been briefed on this Ghost character. Damian was distrustful of him, especially since he had managed to bamboozle Bruce. That took skill and dedication, he should not be underestimated.

Then, an idea struck Damian. He could make up for the blunder with the thugs if he presented Ghost’s true identity.

“You, cretin,” Damian addressed the man. “I demand to know your identity.”

“Huh, well, we sure have a little brat here, don’t we?” Ghost asked. “Go home, kid.”

“Tt. I am no child.” There was a moment of silence. “I will prove myself better than Drake and I will succeed in sussing out your identity.”

Ghost sighed. “Why do you need to prove yourself against Timmy?”

Damian scowled. “For the title of Robin, obviously.”

Ghost shook his head and muttered a few curses. “Okay, listen. Maybe instead of trying to undermine him, just ask?”

“And why would he give me that title?” Damian asked. “My presence is a threat to him, I am father’s true heir. I will be taking Wayne Enterprises and the mantle of Batman. There is no doubt that the leech will want to keep hold of both.”

“Why?”

Damian narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “What do you mean, why?”

“Why do _you_ want any of that?”

“Because it’s my birthright.”

“Okay… but you know you can make your own choices, right? Just because your momma always told you you were your daddy’s heir doesn’t mean you have to take over.”

He had heard those words spoken to him a long time ago, by his brother. Albi. He was dead.

Damian was now no longer hiding his irritation and building rage. “You know nothing!” He snapped and lunged at Ghost, his sword drawn.

Damian never touched Ghost, which only angered him more.

“Stop, Damian,” Ghost said as Damian missed another slash.

“No. I demand to know who you are to think that you can speak to me that way!”

Ghost clicked his tongue, “Didn’t your momma ever teach you any manners?” He stepped back from Damian as the boy stopped trying to stab him. “I gotta go but think about it. You don’t need to steal things you don’t want.”

Ghost grappled off and Damian cursed his name. He was sore, his arm hurt, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, it would be foolish to continue staying out like this.

He returned to the cave to find his father and Grayson waiting for him.

“Damian,” Bruce began sternly. “I thought we talked about this, you are not supposed to go out on patrol. Not without the accompaniment of either of us and _permission_.”

Dick was looking at Damian strangely. “Hey, give him a second, B. He’s hurt.”

Bruce’s whole body language changed. “What happened?”

Damian was loath to admit it. “I was caught off guard by a large number of untrained goons. I am fine. That imbecile Ghost showed up and… assisted me before I engaged him in combat. I am sorry to say he got away.”

Bruce and Dick shared the same confused and slightly concerned expression.

“Why did you start fighting him?” Dick asked out of curiosity.

“He spoke about things he knew nothing of,” Damian said defensively.

“What did he say?” Bruce questioned.

Damian’s nose twitched and he looked away.

Bruce sighed and glanced at Dick, “Can you make sure he’s not hurt? Stephanie needs backup.”

Dick gave Bruce a smile and a thumbs up. Bruce left the cave and Dick managed to get Damian to sit on one of the medical cots in the cave while Dick looked at his arm.

“You know you can tell me and Bruce anything, right? We’re not going to be upset,” Dick said.

Damian frowned. “It was none of your business.”

Dick held back a sigh, “If it upset you, then it is.”

Damian was silent for most of the rest of Dick’s examination of Damian’s arm. When he was wrapping it with a tensor bandage, Damian finally spoke.

“Mother had another son,” Damian said quietly. Dick froze for a moment before beginning to move slowly to sit beside Damian. “He was a lot older, I don’t know how old.”

“What was his name?” Dick asked.

“Albari, but I… I used to call him Albi.” Damian swallowed. “Ghost spoke about things that Albi used to tell me often. It was also our last conversation before he died.”

Dick’s heart broke for the kid. “I’m so sorry, Dami.”

Damian was- Dick blinked. He was crying.

“It was my fault,” Damian admitted. “It was my fault he died.”

“I don’t know what happened, but Dami, I know it wasn’t your fault.”

Damian shook his head. “I failed a mission Grandfather had set out for me. I was facing a… severe punishment and Albi stepped in. He said that Grandfather was insane and that he wasn’t going to stand by anymore. Mother tried to stop him, but he fought Grandfather anyway.” Dick felt sick listening to the story. “It was a stalemate, it went on for hours. Ra’s ordered his guards to contain him, and my mother begged for his life, but he slit Albi’s throat in front of us anyway.” 

Damian bit his lip for a moment, “Mother was not the same after that. I begged her to use the Lazarus pit on him, but she had done that once, when he was younger, and he always said how he never wanted that again. So he’s gone. Because I failed, because I couldn’t handle a broken wrist.”

“Damian… that was absolutely not your fault,” Dick said tearfully. “Nothing about that was your fault. It was all Ra’s. All of it.” Damian was silent. “And Dami? If it had been me and you? I would have done the exact same thing. You didn’t deserve anything that Ra’s ever did to you.”

Damian didn’t agree, but he didn’t disagree either, and that was progress. “Tt. Enough of this foolishness, I will retire for the night.”

“Okay, I’m going to stay down here for a while longer. Have a good sleep, Dami, love you.”

Damian didn’t reply, but he never did, so that was fine.

Dick paced the cave until Bruce returned.

Meanwhile, Bruce was with Stephanie and Tim, trying to stop a shipment of weapons coming in via the Penguin.

Ghost showed up halfway through and helped them out. It was maybe the first time Batman fought beside Ghost. Clearly, the man didn’t know the big bat was going to be there as he seemed surprised. But he didn’t leave, instead, he cut his way through the goons and went into the shipping container to take something. It was a bomb. How Ghost knew it was there, Bruce didn’t know.

The man moved with the bomb toward the pier where Tim followed him.

“I can disarm it!” Tim called to Ghost.

“No time, Timmy.” He chucked it as far as he could into the water. “Get down!” He covered Tim with his own body and held them both up as the shockwave ripped through the air. They were rained upon by splashes of water. “Are you okay?” He asked Tim.

“I’m fine.” He stood. “Thanks.”

Ghost looked back to the main fight. Batman and Batgirl had rounded up the rest of the goons and were looking toward them. Ghost walked back with Tim and glanced toward Bruce. “I think I said something that upset your brat again. Sorry about that.” Then he grappled off into the night.

Bruce wasn’t the only one who noticed the strange wording.

“Again?” Batgirl echoed. “They’ve met before?”

“No, they haven’t,” Bruce said.

They made their way back to the cave to find a very nervous looking Dick.

“Is something wrong?” Bruce asked right away. “Where’s Damian?”

“He’s fine, he’s asleep,” Dick answered that part quickly, not wanting Bruce to worry about the current wellbeing of the kid. “He told me something… and I-” Dick choked as he involuntarily teared up.

“What is it?” Tim asked. He was worried if Dick was still this upset about it.

“He said that Talia had another kid!” Dick blurted out.

Bruce froze as Stephanie and Tim looked to the man. “Are they… mine?”

Dick’s eyes widened, “Oh god I didn’t even think of that. I-I don’t know. Damian didn’t make it seem like that was the case. He said he was older.”

“What happened?” Stephanie asked.

“I guess Ra’s had told Damian to do something, and he couldn’t because he had a broken wrist, and Ra’s was going to make him do something worse as a punishment. His brother fought Ra’s about it, and Ra’s killed him in front of Damian and Talia. He said that whatever Ghost told him was what he and his brother talked about before he died. Damian blames himself for the whole thing, so he was… pretty upset.”

“How old?” Bruce asked.

“He said he didn't know, and I didn't press him." Bruce gave him a look. "He was crying, Bruce.” Everyone knew how serious that was.

Bruce and Tim and Stephanie looked between themselves, having a private conversation.

“What’s going on?” Dick asked.

“Ghost gave us a hint, and I think…” Tim trailed off. “I think Ghost is Damian’s brother.”

“What?” Dick asked with shock.

“Ghost said he’d spoken to Damian about that topic before,” Tim said.

“Well, all he implied was that he’d spoken to Damian before, not necessarily about that,” Stephanie argued.

She and Tim got into a small argument about the semantics of the language, and halfway through, Bruce snapped.

“Enough, both of you!” The cave fell silent. “I… I’m sorry, I just- I just need a minute.” Bruce almost ran out of the cave, leaving the rest of his children staring.

“Is he okay?” Steph asked.

“I think he thinks that Talia’s other kid could have been his too,” Dick supplied. “The timing might have been right for when he first met her when he was training, before Batman.”

Tim shook his head. “No, that’s not it. I mean, maybe a little bit but-”

“Then what?” Stephanie asked, annoyed.

Tim swallowed. “He was still hoping that somehow, Ghost might be Jason.”

Dick checked the tracker on Bruce's suit that Dick had put there. It said he was at the graveyard where they had buried Jason and Bruce's parents.

"I'm sorry, B..." Dick breathed sadly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M'kay, the next chapter is definitely not going to be tomorrow, but I'm optimistic for sometime on the weekend. So stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim thinks he has the answers. Bruce finally gets it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, here we go, the big kahuna. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has left really nice comments and also everyone who has dropped kudos!

The next night, Tim saw Ghost again.

He dropped in on Tim dealing with Riddler. It was wrapped up pretty quick, the man only had a few riddles and didn’t even have any hostages.

“Riddler is always my favourite,” Tim said to Ghost when they were done.

“No surprise there,” Ghost replied back.

Tim was staring at him. “I know who you are.”

Ghost froze. “Really.”

“Yes. You gave yourself away last night when you said you’d upset Damian  _ again _ .”

Ghost seemed to relax, just a little, but enough for Tim to notice.

“He told us about his brother, Albari,” Tim finished. He was starting to doubt himself. “That’s you. Isn’t it?”

Ghost chuckled in a way that made Tim feel like he knew nothing. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Will you come and see him?” Tim asked. “I mean, he’s a little jerk and he keeps trying to stab me, but he really misses you and it’s really sad, even to me.”

“No.”

Tim blinked. “What? Why not!”

Ghost took a step toward Tim. “Because he wouldn’t be safe if he knew. Ra’s doesn’t know. If he found out-” Ghost clicked his tongue. “-there go Talia and I’s heads. And then who’s going to protect him?”

“And you aren’t willing to risk that?” Tim challenged. “He’s your little brother! He blames himself for what happened!”

“No. Final answer.”

Ghost looked like he was about to grapple away, and Tim had to keep him there, to convince him.

“Are you afraid for Damian or are you afraid for yourself?”

Ghost did pause at that. “Do you know what the first thought that went through my mind when Ra’s cut my throat was?” Tim shook his head mutely. “It was relief. Because the first time I died, it was bloody and painful and brutal. It was torture, Tim. I was tortured to death. So no, I’m not afraid that Ra’s is going to kill me again. I’m afraid that Ra’s is going to kill me and then Damian is going to die slowly, bit by bit, just like I did.”

“You act like you’re the only one who’s been protecting him.”

“You think I trust Talia? Or even worse, Bruce?” Ghost questioned. “Talia has been complicit in everything Ra’s did to him at best, and Bruce…” Ghost trailed off darkly. “Bruce takes kids who have nothing else and turn them into toy soldiers and forgets about them when they break.”

“That’s not true!” Tim protests.

“Oh yeah? Where was he all that time in Bludhaven when Dick was losing everything that made him who he was? Where was he when his 17-year-old son decided to move to the second most dangerous city in America alone? And where was he when Stephanie was going to get killed? Where was he when her father got out of prison and threatened her and her mother? And what about you?”

Tim took a breath. “What about me?”

“He knew you were all alone in that house, didn’t he? When you came to him, he looked into it and I’m certain he found out how things were for you. But did he offer you food and a place to stay that was safe? No. He sent you home, every night, didn’t he? Every night after he was done moulding you to take the place of his dead son, he sent you home to be alone, didn’t he?”

“Stop!” Tim screamed.

Ghost snapped out of whatever trance he had been in and looked at Tim. The boy was crying and shaking and staring at him like he had just punched him in the face.

“That’s not what happened,” Tim whimpered.

“I… fuck,” Ghost cursed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Tim, I’m sorry.”

Tim sniffled and wiped his face. “No, I… I overreacted.”

“No, you didn’t,” Ghost said firmly. “I just waved all of your past trauma in your face and that was super shitty of me. I would have done much worse if someone were to bring up all my shit.” Tim nodded. “Now, I get why you’re… passionate about this. But I need you to drop it, okay? If I wanted a normal life with daddy bats, I would have come back here a long time ago.”

Tim nodded, “He’s your dad, right?”

“As much as Talia’s my mother. Closest thing I’ll ever get to having one, I’m sure.” Ghost patted Tim on the shoulder. “Okay, so… go home, have some hot chocolate and relax. I’m sorry about tonight.” Ghost left and Tim sighed.

He headed back to the Batcave, dreading having to tell Bruce what happened. So he basically decided that he didn’t have to. He loaded the footage of the… incident from the mask cameras and just left it open on the Batcave before following Ghost’s advice and going upstairs for a warm drink.

Bruce entered the cave that night and saw that someone had not signed out of their profile on the Batcomputer. He sat in the chair, preparing to stay up late doing case reports, but then he noticed that it wasn’t just case files on the screen, it was the footage from Tim’s mask camera.

He pressed play.

“I know who you are,” Tim sounded confident.

“Really.”

Bruce watched their back and forth until Ghost just snapped at Tim. Bruce was clenching his jaw so hard that he may have cracked a tooth when he could see how upset Tim was getting.

He was glad when it was over. But the video wasn’t done. Tim asked Ghost if Bruce was his father, and Ghost had said yes.

He nearly got out of his seat to go confront Talia right then and there. Then he remembered all the pain Ghost had just recounted and his rage only grew. How dare she keep another child from him! And how dare she allow him to get hurt like that! A voice whispered in the back of his head telling him he had done the same with Jason.

Bruce had been so inside his own head that he hadn’t paid much attention to the ending of their conversation. He went back thirty seconds.

“-you to drop it, okay? If I wanted a normal life with daddy bats, I would have come back here a long time ago.”

Bruce paused it and went back five seconds.

“-come back here a long time ago.”

Two seconds.

"-come back-"

All the air was knocked out of Bruce’s lungs all at once. Jason. 

Dick came running down the stairs, half-dressed in his Nightwing uniform.

“B! The Joker’s out!”

Bruce’s heart was hammering, he looked to the screen and then to Dick. 

“Get the others,” Bruce grunted. Dick went back upstairs and Bruce stared at the screen. He would put that clown back in jail, and then he was going to go find his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger! I'm sorry! 
> 
> Next chapter probably on Monday!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce loses his kids and then finds them back again. Someone ruins the joke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is a very long one compared to the lengths of the other chapters! So I hope you like!

It was an all hands on deck situation. Bruce began to regret bringing Damian, Tim and Stephanie the moment he saw them in their suits. They had never faced the Joker before. Batman had nearly killed the clown after Jason died, and he had designed his cell himself. He had never escaped Arkham after Jason’s death. Until now.

He made an odd decision. “We’re all sticking together.”

Stephanie was the only one who was brave enough to voice confusion. “What? Why? Won’t it be faster if we split up?”

“No. It’ll only be dangerous. None of you are going to engage the Joker without my backup. If you do, you’re benched for two months. Do you all understand?”

Tim and Stephanie nodded, Damian clicked his tongue and Dick flashed a thumbs up.

They all made their way to where the police thought the Joker was holed up.

Gordon was there, Bruce told the kids to wait on the rooftops while he got the information.

“Batman, good to see you,” Jim said. “The city is in chaos, the Joker hasn’t been out in years.”

“Do you have any information on how he managed to get out?” Bruce asked him.

“We know he had help, but from who, or how they knew how to get him out, we don’t know.”

Bruce gritted his teeth. “You’re certain he’s in there?” Bruce gestured to the building.

“We saw him go in, we haven’t seen anyone come out. Our sniper’s seen Harley in the windows a few times.”

Bruce nodded. “Be ready, we’ll see if we can flush him out.” He grappled up to the rooftops where he was relieved to see that everyone was still waiting. “Robin and Black Bat.” He said to Tim and Damian. Damian had been given that temporary name by Stephanie until they could come up with something better. “Go to Arkham. I need to know how the Joker got out of there and who leaked the plans of his cell.”

Tim didn’t look too pleased with that plan. “Batman, I thought we were all sticking together.”

“Joker isn’t at Arkham, so you’ll be safe without me there. We won’t have a problem getting the Joker. What we might have a problem with is making sure that he never gets out again. I need a good detective to figure things out on that end.”

Tim tried not to smile at the praise and he nodded, “Alright. We’ll keep you updated.”

“I want to hear from you every ten minutes.”

“Tt. I should stay here with you, Father. I am a better fighter than  _ Batgirl _ ,” he sneered. Stephanie and Dick frowned. “I can be of assistance in watching your back.”

“Black Bat,” Bruce began. “You are going with Robin, and you will do whatever he says. He is in charge. And do not insult your siblings.” Bruce was stern and Damian nearly wilted.

“Fine. But let it be known that I do not agree with this decision.” He ground out after a few moments.

“Noted,” Batman said. He watched them grapple away and then he turned to Nightwing and Batgirl.

“Alright, so we’re the A team, right?” Stephanie asked.

Dick high-fived her and Bruce was just glaring at them.

“This isn’t a game. The Joker is one of our most dangerous adversaries. I want to see both of you in my line of sight at all times,” Bruce said.

“B, everything’s going to be fine,” Nightwing said with the intention of calming Bruce down a little.

“The last time any of my children saw the Joker, they were killed,” Bruce said sharply. “I will be taking every precaution.” The mood quickly sobered. “Let’s go.”

They went in through the roof entrance. There were traps laid everywhere. It took them six minutes just to get in through the door. After they entered, Bruce got his first check-in from Tim.

“We’ve just arrived at Arkham,” Tim spoke over the comms.

“Okay, be careful. Let me know about any developments.”

“Tt. We will,” Damian replied.

“Ten minutes,” Bruce reminded. He turned back to the trap that Stephanie and Dick were working on at the bottom of the stairs.

At the rate they were progressing, it was going to take them all night. Tim commed in dutifully every ten minutes, but they hadn’t found anything at the Asylum either.

They had started by interviewing the guards that were on staff. They all seemed clean. Then they went to inspect the cell itself. Everything was in its place. It was abundantly clear to Tim that someone had known the exact right way to get the Joker out.

“If the guards claim innocence, and it’s clear that the clown didn’t release himself? Who is left?” Damian asked. He was getting frustrated with their lack of progress.

“I don’t know. We need to look at the security cameras,” Tim said.

Damian nodded. He was being surprisingly cooperative. It was probably just because he had been scolded by Bruce earlier.

The files were taking forever to load, and Tim was growing impatient.

“Black Bat. Stay here and ping me on the comms when the files are done.”

“That’s foolish, we should stay together.”

“I need to go talk to the guards again, and no offence, but you are not really a people person,” Tim pointed out. “I’ll be right back.”

Damian knew it was a bad idea, but father said that Tim was in charge, so he didn’t stop the older boy.

“Robin, the files are complete, return at once,” Damian said on the comm line. Silence. “Robin, come in.” Nothing. Damian growled. “Robin!” He snapped. “This is not funny! Return to the security room at once!”

Damian’s heart was pounding. He went to the door of the security room and peered down the hallway. No one was out there, and the halls were eerily quiet as usual. He unsheathed his katana and he started walking toward the guard station where Robin should have been.

On his way, he realized something was wrong. There were blood splatters on the wall. Based on their patterns, he concluded that the wounds were likely caused by a sword. Great. 

Damian gripped his own sword tighter as he got closer and closer to the guard station. It was a massacre. Blood everywhere, but no Robin.

“Batman?” Damian said on the comms.

“Black Bat. Report.”

“Someone else is here. They’ve killed all the staff on-site and Robin is missing,” Damian said.

There were the sounds of a whispered conversation between Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl.

“I’m sending Nightwing to you. Go back to the security room and lock the door. When Nightwing arrives, he’ll tell you over comms. Do not leave that room for any other reason. While you’re there, see if you can figure out what happened to Robin by looking at the security cameras.”

“Understood.”

Back at the abandoned apartment complex, Nightwing stood. “I’ll make it there in 20 minutes. Just hold on Baby Bat.”

“Tt. Obviously.”

Nightwing left the way they had come in, leaving only Stephanie and Bruce.

They were working on diffusing yet another Joker gas bomb when Stephanie dropped a bombshell of her own. “Do you not trust me?”

“Hn?” Bruce grunted in confusion as he cut two wires.

“You sent Tim and Damian alone to the Asylum, and for backup, you sent Dick. It kinda seems like you don’t trust me out there and you want to keep an eye on me,” Stephanie spoke as she worked on the other side.

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is?”

“You’re the one I want here, more than the others.”

“Why? Damian’s right. I’m not half the fighter that he is, I’m not even close to Dick. Tim and I are similar, but he’s so much smarter. So why would you want me here?”

Bruce continued working, but she could tell he was thinking about what to say.

“It’s not about fighting.” He paused as he unscrewed a small panel and a new bunch of wires popped free. “It’s about trust.”

Stephanie blinked and looked at him as he worked. “You trust me more than you trust them?”

“Is it so strange to think I do?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed. “I never listen, I always run off and you always get mad.”

Bruce almost smiled at that. “Not about trusting that you’ll listen to me. It’s about trusting you to make a decision when I can’t tell you what to do. You have some of the best instincts I’ve seen. I need that here because the Joker is wildly unpredictable.”

Stephanie felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment.

“And you’re selling yourself too short. You could take Damian any day of the week.”

Stephanie laughed at that. “B, I didn’t know you had a sense of humour.”

The side of Bruce’s mouth ticked upward.

“This one’s done.”

They moved through the floor together, checking each and every room for a sign of something.

There was nothing. They hadn’t even encountered Harley yet.

“So, is it just me, or is this starting to feel like a big distraction?” Stephanie asked.

“Not just you,” Bruce said gravely. “Nightwing, come in.” There was nothing. Stephanie looked at Bruce. “Black Bat.” Radio silence. “Robin?” Bruce took a collecting breath. “Batgirl… I need you to keep going here, anything you find, I want you to tell me. Keep your comm on, keep talking to me the entire time. If you ever feel as though you are at risk, I want you to leave and wait outside with the commissioner. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “Copy that.”

So Bruce left to go to the Asylum. Stephanie chattered in his ear. “Okay, third floor is clear, no sign of Harley. I’m going into the first door on my left… nothing here except some rats. Gross. Okay, next door… nothing. On the right… okay, there’s another trap here, but I can definitely handle this one, it’s just tripwire.”

It was oddly reassuring, and obviously something he should have had Nightwing doing on his way to the Asylum. Bruce was about 5 minutes away when he came across a scrap of fabric on the roof. It was part of Nightwing’s suit without a doubt. He scanned the rooftop for any sign of struggle. He didn’t see any. And then Stephanie suddenly stopped talking.

“Batgirl!” Bruce nearly shouted into the comms.

“I think I see Harley,” Stephanie whispered. “Should I engage?”

“What is she doing?”

“She’s just… humming a song, I think it’s from Hamilton.”

“Is she armed?”

“Not that I can see.”

“What do you think?”

“I think I could get her, but I also think there’s something really weird going on.”

“Then leave her, go down a floor and keep looking.”

“Okay. I’m going into the stairwell… looks clear to me.” Bruce then heard a snarl from Stephanie’s comms. “Shit! Not clear! Not clear! There’s a hyena in here!” She shouted. He heard her start running up the stairs to the roof.

“Remember, don’t exit out of the east stairwell, the door is rigged to a grenade,” Bruce said.

“None of the doors are opening, they’re all locked,” Stephanie said frantically. “Shit it’s fast.”

“If you exit out that door, you’ll have five seconds to get clear of the blast range.”

“Okay, I’m gonna do it.”

“You’ll have to dive behind the brick wall, it might not hold.”

“It’ll hold.”

He heard Stephanie open the door and then he heard the explosion.

“Batgirl, are you alright?”

There was a pause. “I’m… yeah, I’m okay. I just need a minute.”

“Get off that roof, now.”

“I’m trying.”

She was definitely not completely okay. He could hear what sounded like someone army crawling.

“Where are you hurt?”

“My leg.”

“I’m coming, Batgirl. I’m on my way.”

“No. You’re just going to waste more time. I can get off the roof. You need to find everyone else. I’ll stay on the comms.”

Bruce didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.

“So, anyway, did I tell you about Robin’s boyfriend?” Stephanie said, completely changing the subject from what they were doing.

“He has a boyfriend?” Bruce asked. He continued on his way to Arkham. The lead on the piece of Nightwing's suit was a dead end.

“Oh yeah, I bet you’ll never guess who.”

“Bart.”

“What the hell? How did you know that?”

“It was either him or Superboy. And I know it isn’t Superboy, because Superman hasn’t been acting strangely.”

Stephanie laughed. “How mad would you have been if it had been Superboy?”

“Very.”

There was a moment of silence. “Oh… Ghost is here,” Stephanie said.

Bruce tensed.

“Kid, Jesus, what the hell happened?” Ghost asked.

“I was being chased by a hyena up a booby-trapped stairwell, obviously.”

Ghost sighed loud enough that Bruce heard it through the comms. “Alright, come on, up we get.”

He heard Stephanie hiss in pain. “No offence, but where have you been all night?” She asked him.

“I’ve been a little busy making sure that Black Mask didn’t kill the Mayor. I know what’s going on here though, I’ll go get your brothers once I’m done getting you to a doctor.”

“You know where the Clinic in Crime Alley is?” Stephanie asked.

“Oh yeah, Dr. Thompkins, right?”

“It’s closer than the cave.”

“I know.”

Of course he knew, he was Jason. He had lived there. Bruce had taken him, as Robin, to see Leslie before. Bruce almost wanted to face-palm at how obvious it had been.

“Hey, Batman’s heading to the Asylum right now. Is that where they are?” Stephanie asked.

Ghost was silent for a moment. “Tell Batman to meet me at Amusement Mile, that’s where the clown is, and it’s where the little birdies are being taken if they’re not there already.”

“Did you catch that, B?”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting at the West entrance.”

“He said he’ll wait for you at the west entrance.”

“Alright.” There was a pause as Ghost carried Stephanie over rooftops. “Here we go. Hey Doc!”

“Oh!” Leslie’s frightened voice spoke. “What happened?”

“Got caught in a grenade blast, my leg got crushed under some rubble.”

“You alright here?” Ghost asked.

“I’m good. Thanks, G.”

Ghost snorted, and then apparently he left as Bruce could no longer hear him.

“Okay B, I’m going off the comms,” Stephanie said.

“Copy that, Batgirl. I’ll come to get you once this is all over.”

“Okay, night B.”

“Goodnight Stephanie.”

Bruce made it to Amusement Mile at the same time as Ghost did.

He looked at the young man, at  _ his little boy _ all grown up.

“Jason.”

Ghost looked at him. “We don’t have time for this.”

“I-”

Ghost started moving into Amusement Mile. Bruce followed him.

Jason seemed to know exactly where to go. Even once they entered the house of mirrors, he never walked into the glass once.

Ghost gestured for silence and he moved in a crouched position forward to an overlook. Underneath them was Nightwing, Robin and Black Bat. And the Joker.

The room also had three League assassins in it.

“You know, all this waiting is really starting to get on my nerves. I just wanted to kill the birds! But no, Mister angry mustache says I have to keep Robin alive or else he wouldn’t let me out.” The Joker pouted. “Robin was going to be the best part.”

Robin was unconscious, but Nightwing and Black Bat seemed to be in good condition.

“What the fuck do you want?” Nightwing asked the man angrily.

“Well, that Bat just has far too many friends these days. I can’t get any attention anymore!”

“Tt. You’ve been locked up where you belong,” Damian spat.

“You wound me, little bird,” Joker teased. “I was so close to getting out on my own anyway, but it wouldn’t have mattered, you see! Because he’s so distracted, and  _ happy _ .” The Joker faked gagging. “I thought he was going to be so much better once I got rid of that old Robin, but no, he just locks me up and finds even more of them!”

Batman turned to Jason to find that he had changed his suit to black and was now on the other side of the outlook trying to get Nightwing’s attention subtly.

It worked. Jason then looked at Bruce and counted down on his fingers. Just before they jumped down, Jason threw a throwing knife and cut Nightwing’s hands free. They leapt down. Batman started in on the Joker and Jason and Dick started on the Ninja around him.

Tim was safe since apparently the Joker wasn’t allowed to kill him. When Jason had a free moment, he cut Damian free as well. Then they were evenly matched. Mostly. Jason couldn’t completely make out whatever it was Joker was saying to Bruce, but it had the man rattled. He was not doing so well.

Jason dealt a finishing blow to the assassin Damian was currently struggling with and then he moved to Bruce’s back.

“Don’t you remember how much fun we used to have? Are you still so upset about what I did to your little boy? He was no fun at all.”

The Joker swung a crowbar at Bruce, who didn’t block it in time, sending him to his knees. The Joker raised it up again for another swing. “Come on Batsy! Even little Robin took a few more swings than that before he fell down!”

Jason stepped in front of Bruce, drawing on the All Blades and he met the Joker’s crowbar, and then cut straight through it. The Joker frowned and was probably about to say some stupid quip, but then Jason pushed the other sword through his chest.

“Oh,” the Joker gasped and looked down at the blade. And then he was dead. Just like that. There were no fireworks, he didn’t disappear in a cloud of ash, the devil himself didn’t show up to take him away. He died as any man did.

Jason turned to make sure that Nightwing and Damian were still handling the Assassins, only to see that they had taken the one Jason had knocked out and fled.

“Shit,” he cursed. He started to run after them, but then Bruce was grabbing his arm, and then Bruce was crying into his shoulder. Jason quickly detached Batman from himself. And continued to run after the assassins. They were gone when Jason managed to get outside. “Fuck!” He yelled to the sky. He let the All Blades disappear.

He started thinking about what he was going to do next. It was only a matter of time before they managed to tell Ra’s about what they saw. And then Ra’s would know he was alive. Well, he’d know Albari was alive. But that was going to be a big problem regardless of whether the man thought he was Jason or not.

Jason, as far as Ra’s knew, was the heir to the League, so he could not allow a threat like that to live, especially not after how close their last duel for the title was.

“Hey, Ghost?” Jason hadn’t been paying attention. He whipped around to see Nightwing. “Um… not really sure what just happened back there, but you kinda broke B.”

“That’s not my problem.”

Nightwing narrowed his eyes, “Right, yeah, of course. Why did you chase those guys out of there?”

“They’re going to tell Ra’s what they saw. It’s going to put Talia in danger.”

Dick felt a little awkward. “Do you have a way of contacting her?”

“I do, and I will. This is just… a complication I don’t want to deal with.”

Dick shifted his weight to his other leg. “Will you come talk to Damian?”

Jason looked away briefly. “I will, but tonight I have to deal with this.”

“Thanks, for coming.”

“I’ll always come,” Jason said. He ran off into the dark.

Nightwing went back down to where Bruce seemed to be back to a somewhat normal state.

“Are you okay, B?” He asked. “You weren’t dosed with anything?”

“No.”

Dick frowned, “No to being okay, or no to being dosed with something?”

A pause. “Both.”

Dick nodded and turned to Damian who had just managed to get Tim to wake up.

“Can you help Tim back to the cave, or do you need help?” Nightwing asked.

“Tt. I can handle this floppy fool. See to it that father is… intact.”

Damian and Tim left.

“B? You wanna tell me what this is all about?”

“Ghost.”

Dick frowned. “Yeah, he killed Joker. Don’t really feel too bad about it.”

“Not that, he’s- he’s  _ Jason _ , Dick. Ghost is  _ Jason _ .”

Dick blinked and shook his head, “No, B, Ghost is Albari, Damian’s older brother, remember?”

“Albari is Jason.”

“I can’t just believe that!” Dick snapped. “You’re a detective! Where’s your proof?”

“He confirmed it.”

Dick was on the brink of tears. “What? When?”

“Just before we came here.”

Dick couldn’t believe it, because if he did and if Bruce turned out to be wrong, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Are you- are you certain?”

“Yes.”

“No, B. Are you  **100% sure** it’s  _ Jason _ , our Jason?!”

“Yes.”

Dick’s legs crumpled beneath him. Bruce caught the boy.

“It’s okay, chum. It’ll be okay.”

“He’s been all alone!” Dick cried.

“He wasn’t alone, he had Damian, and now he’s here. We can still bring him home. We just need to find him again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is! The Joker is dead! Finally!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a flashback. It's a phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so glad you guys all like the last chapter! I wasn't 100% sure about it, so I'm glad that everyone seemed happy with it!
> 
> Here's the next one! Hope you like!

“Come on a hike with me, little brother,” Albari said.

A much smaller Damian grinned up at the man. “Can we go look at the waterfalls again?”

“If you’d like.”

They passed Talia in the halls, “We’re going out for a walk mama,” Damian reported.

Jason ruffled his hair and Damian pouted at him.

“Alright Habibi, come back before dark, and be careful with his wrist.”

“We will,” Albari said. His face darkened ever so slightly at the mention of Damian’s injury.

They went out to explore the canyons near the compound. Albari had walked the path so many times he could have done it blindfolded.

“So, what have you been up to today?” Albari asked.

“I did history with my instructor, and then Grandfather sent a doctor to check on the progress of my wrist.”

Albari nodded, “And how is it feeling?”

“It’s fine. I wish everyone would stop worrying,” Damian complained.

“Never.”

Damian swatted as his brother with his good hand. Albari just laughed.

They walked in silence for a little while longer. “Damian? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Damian looked up at Albari with an incredulous expression. “Obviously I will inherit the League and my father’s mantle of Batman.” He thought about something. “Of course, you will be my second in command in both.”

Albari chuckled deeply at that. “No, I meant… if you didn’t have to do any of that. What would you like to do? Where would you want to go?”

“I suppose… I would like to do something with animals, or perhaps with historic artifacts.”

Albari smiled wistfully, “That sounds awesome.”

Damian shrugged, “Doesn’t matter. I am the heir to the Demon Head, after you, I suppose. Grandfather has never made that clear.”

“He doesn’t like me, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“If you had to choose between the League and a normal life, what would you do?”

Damian thought about it. “I don’t know. This is the only life I’ve known.”

“Fair.”

“Why ask me about such frivolous things?”

Albari raised an eyebrow. “Have you been reading the dictionary again?” He teased.

“Tt. Just because I don’t want to sound like a plebian does not mean that I read the dictionary. How preposterous.”

Albari laughed again. “Preposterous indeed.”

They came to the waterfall and Damian smiled widely. He always found it so beautiful there. Albari carefully helped him move down the slippery rocks so that they could dip their feet in the cool water.

“Albi?” Damian asked.

“Yes?”

“Would you come with me, if I wanted to leave?” Damian asked smally.

Albi wrapped an arm around the boy. “Of course I would.”

The sun started to set and Damian was delighted when Albari told him to hop on his back so that they could get back to the compound in time.

They arrived to Talia looking irritated. “You two are late for dinner.”

“Relax, Tals,” Albari said easily.

She rolled her eyes at the man. “Damian, it’s your favourite. Hopefully, it’s still warm.”

They ate and an easy chatter filled the room. Albari teasing Damian, Talia teasing Albari, Damian attempting to quip at them.

Of course, the whole mood changed when a messenger came into the room. “The Demon Head requests Lord Damian’s presence immediately.”

Albari and Talia shared a look. They both stood.

“Let’s go see what your Grandfather wants,” Talia said. She was nervous, Albari wasn’t sure if Damian could tell, but he sure as hell did.

Albari walked beside Damian, both behind Talia.

“Daughter, I believe I requested my grandson,” Ra’s spoke coolly when they entered the main chambers.

“I am here, Grandfather,” Damian said. He stepped forward and bowed.

Ra’s locked eyes with Albari and they stared at each other for a moment before Ra’s turned back to Damian. “I have a test for you. Tonight, you will climb the peak to the east and retrieve an artifact from the peak. You will bring it to me, intact, or you will not return. Do you understand?”

Damian was visibly paler but he nodded. “Yes Grandfather, I will not fail-”

“Are you out of your mind?” Albari questioned. He stepped in front of Damian so that he was standing next to Talia. “He has a broken wrist. He can’t climb a mountain. Not alone. Let me go with him.”

“Absolutely not!” Ra’s snapped. “He has grown soft under your influence! I will not have it!” The old man stood. Albari took another step forward.

“Well, I won’t have  _ this _ ,” he challenged. “He’s a child. He has plenty of time to do your bidding when he’s older and in good condition.”

“You are awfully bold to challenge me here,” Ra’s snarled.

“And you’re awfully bold to send my brother on a suicide mission.”

Ra’s drew his sword. “You have been a scourge on the al Ghul name since the day I learned of your existence.”

“And you have been a scourge on the Earth since the day you were born!” Albari snapped. “I’ve had enough of this, Ra’s. This little game you and I play, it ends now.”

“Habibi,” Talia breathed from behind him. “Stop.”

“No, mom, I’m sorry, I know you’re afraid, but I’m not going to let him destroy Damian,” Albari said.  Damian was just staring at Albari with already wet eyes. He ran up and hugged the man. Albari crouched down so he could completely embrace the boy. “It’ll be okay.”

“You have to win,” Damian whispered.

“I will.” Albari stood and pushed him back toward Talia. He gave her a nod and she returned it.

“Brave, but foolish. All you’re doing is delaying the inevitable,” Ra’s said.

Jason unsheathed his sword.

Ra’s attacked first and he was brutal. Jason was far more graceful in his movements, mostly on the defensive.

“Mother?” Damian asked Talia as she watched with a hawk’s eye.

She looked away for just a moment to glance at Damian. “Yes, Habibi?”

“Albi will win, won’t he?”

Talia swallowed. “Yes. Of course he will.”

She went back to watching every move.

As the fight went on, Damian was getting very tired, but he couldn’t sleep. He was afraid that if he closed his eyes, he would open then again in a world without his big brother.

Talia stood still the entire time, even in a moment where others gasped because Ra’s had landed a deep slash to the side of Albari’s leg. Of course, Albari gave Ra’s an equally crippling wound to his dominant arm. That was the beginning of the end. They were both getting sloppy.

After three hours of fighting, Ra’s managed to throw Albari to the ground, but instead of killing him then and there, Ra’s ordered his guards to hold him up.

“Father! This is not proper!” Talia snapped.

“None of this is proper,” Ra’s returned. He sheathed his sword and instead pulled out a small knife from his belt. “He had no right to challenge me.”

“He’s my son,” Talia said. Ra’s looked at her, he saw how Damian was clinging to her side.

“He’s a spare.” Ra’s cut through Albari’s throat.

Talia made a hiccuping noise and she fell to the ground.

“No!” Damian screamed. He ran to where the guards had released Albari. “Albi!”

The man was still alive, just barely. He was choking to death on his own blood.

“No! Please!” Damian begged to no one. His knees were soaked and it made him want to vomit, but he held Albari’s hand as he died.

After what seemed like an eternity, Talia came up beside him and picked him up.

“No!” Damian screeched. He fought in his mother’s grip to stay beside Albi. “No! Mother!”

“Shh,” Talia said soothingly. “I am so sorry, habibi.” Which son she was talking to, no one knew.

…

“Talia,” Jason spoke into the phone.

“Habibi, it is so good to hear from you. How are you?” Talia breathed.

“You’re in danger. Ra’s knows I’m alive.”

There was a pause. “Where will you go?”

“I’m not going anywhere. Assassins saw me with Damian, they’ll think he knows something. I have to stay here to protect him.”

“Albi… your father can-”

“I had to save them  _ all _ tonight, Talia,” Jason snapped. “He wouldn’t have made it in time, again.” Jason’s hands were shaking. “I trust him as much as I trust you.”

Talia made no noise, but Jason knew that those words had hurt her.

“What happened?”

“I…” Jason sat down in his safehouse. “I killed the Joker.”

There was a pause on Talia’s end. “How are you, habibi?”

Jason swallowed. “I don’t- I’m not sure. I felt it, the pure, unfiltered evil in him. I’m glad he’s dead, I just… I wish it wasn’t  _ me _ who had to do it.” Jason sniffled a little and wiped his cheeks. “It just always seems like no one cares enough to ever avenge me.”

Talia was silent. “I’m sorry. I should have-”

“No, don’t it’s- it’s fine. You’ve been busy, I know that.”

“You’re my son. I should have made time.”

Jason shook his head. “You don’t have to pretend anymore.”

“I’m  _ not _ pretending,” Talia spoke strongly. “You are  _ my son _ . And I love you. When all this is over, I will do whatever it takes to get you to regain trust in me. I promise.”

“Okay,” Jason said softly. “Please be safe.”

“And you as well, habibi. Goodbye.”

“Bye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty! Things are heading toward the final countdown. I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be up tomorrow, but I'm not great at writing action, so I'm not gonna promise anything.
> 
> As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reunion, a PowerPoint, a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we're inching ever closer to the end! I hope you all like this chapter!

Jason knew he had to tell Damian. The kid was in danger because of him.

So during the day, Jason followed him. Alfred dropped him off at school along with Tim and Stephanie.

Jason wrote a note to the office, forging everything perfectly, and told the administrator to give it to Damian Wayne.

It was, supposedly, from Bruce Wayne, telling Damian to meet him at the park a block down from the school.

Damian was given the letter in between his English and History classes and he was slightly confused, but his father did occasionally do such things.

When the day was over, he moved out of the school quickly, wanting to beat Stephanie and Tim there since they had no doubt also received a letter. It wouldn’t be difficult. Stephanie had to use crutches, and Tim had to carry around all her stuff.

He arrived at the park and saw a male figure sitting against a large willow tree. Damian went over to greet his father, but instead, he just stood there and willed his brain to stop hallucinating.

“Hey little brother,” Albari spoke.

“Albi!” He exclaimed and leapt upon the man.

“I’ve missed you so much, Dami,” Albari murmured into the top of Damian’s head.

“I knew it! I knew it!” Damian cried. “I knew mother would do it!”

A bittersweet smile graced Albari’s face. “Yeah, of course she would have.”

“How long have you been in Gotham?” Damian asked. He gracefully rolled off the older man and sat next to him.

“Damian… I-” Albari stopped. “I’m Ghost, Damian.”

The boy blinked and then frowned, “But- but that means that you…” His eyes widened in realization. “Why didn’t you say something? You imbecile!”

“I’m sorry, little brother. I just didn’t want to put you in any danger.”

“Tt. What danger?”

“Well, after those assassins escaped last night, Ra’s is going to find out that I’m alive, and he’s not going to be happy about it,” Albari explained.

Damian’s eyes filled with worry. “Mother.”

“I called her and warned her. She’s perfectly safe. I’m more worried about you.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I know that.” Albari was silent for a moment. “You shouldn’t have to, but you can. I’m not necessarily worried about you, I just… I wanted to make you aware. You should tell your dad and make sure everyone’s being more careful.”

“And what about you?” Damian asked.

“I’ll be fine.”

Damian was silent for a moment. “Promise me something, Albi?”

“Anything.”

“Will you promise me that you’ll call if you need help?”

Albari looked down at Damian’s best imitation of puppy-dog eyes. They were very effective. Dick must have taught him that.

“I promise.” Albari stood and Damian followed suit. “Now, you gotta go before the rest of the family comes looking.”

“When will I see you again?” Damian asked.

“When all this is over and sorted out, I’ll find you.”

Damian nodded.

Albari hugged him once more and then they went their separate ways.

Damian quickly made his way back to the school and faced the disappointing gaze of Alfred.

“Master Damian, we have been very worried about you,” the butler spoke.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Not until you tell us where you were,” Stephanie spoke.

Damian narrowed his eyes. “It’s none of your business.”

Tim and Steph shared a glance.

Alfred just sighed, “Come now, everyone in.”

The drive home was silent, everyone in the car sending glances to Damian at various intervals. When they arrived back at the manor, Damian was the first to hop out of the car and he called: “We need to have a family meeting.”

So about 15 minutes later, everyone was home. Bruce had taken the day off to recuperate and also to make a slideshow presentation that he was hoping would explain to everyone the truth of Ghost’s identity. Dick had almost been fired from the Bludhaven Police Department because he had missed too many days of work, so he decided to quit while he was ahead and had been thinking of a transfer to the GCPD.

They all gathered in the dining room. There was a projector set up in there and everyone seemed confused. 

“After Damian has made his announcement, I will also be telling you all something,” Bruce explained.

“Via PowerPoint?” Steph asked teasingly.

“Yes, via PowerPoint,” Bruce deadpanned. Stephanie laughed.

“Tt. Listen up, Brown. This is important.” Damian cleared his throat. “I have discovered the true identity of Ghost.”

Bruce frowned and clicked something on the computer. The PowerPoint began and the title was: Identity of the Vigilante Ghost.

Stephanie couldn’t help herself, she started laughing wildly. “Oh my god,” she wheezed.

“This is not amusing, Brown,” Damian snapped. “Ghost’s true identity is Albari al Ghul, a brother I thought was long dead. I saw him today. That’s why I was late to meet Pennyworth after school was over. He told me that we were possibly in danger from my grandfather and to stay vigilant.”

Tim looked to Stephanie, who looked at Dick, who looked at Alfred, who looked at Bruce, who was just staring at his slideshow with a contemplative face.

“That’s…” Bruce trailed off. “We’ll talk about that in a moment. I think before we get any further, I will show you my presentation and then things may… make more sense.”

“Of course,” Damian nodded. “I know this revelation took you all by surprise.” The boy sat down.

Everyone in the room had already known, but Damian didn’t need to know that.

“To begin,” Bruce started diplomatically. “This may come as… as quite the shock to some of you-” Bruce’s eyes locked with Alfred’s “-but I am 100% certain that these are the events as they happened.”

Bruce switched slides and a timeline popped up. “In 2014, Jason Todd was murdered by the Joker.” The mood shifted from mildly amused to sombre in an instant. “At this point in time, Damian was with his mother in Nanda Parbat. He was four years old.” Bruce clicked a few times and the timeline changed to show Damian’s birthday, the day Jason died and then, in green, another date. “This is approximately when I estimate that Talia resurrected Jason Todd with a Lazarus pit and introduced him to you as Albari.”

Alfred, who had previously been standing, sat down.

“He stayed with Talia and the League for four years, and then he died again. Talia brought him back again, and he left to come to Gotham. He’s been here for nearly two years now, making him 21.” The room was silent as Bruce went to the next slide. It was a picture of Jason at 15. “Damian, is that Albari?”

Damian stared at the picture for a moment. “I… believe so. But, Albari had green eyes and white hair.”

“That could be the effects of the Lazarus pit,” Tim suggested.

“So Master Jason has been alive all this time?” Alfred asked shakily.

Bruce looked at Alfred tearfully, “Yes.”

Alfred stood, “You’ll have to excuse me for a moment.” He exited the room.

“Why wouldn’t he have come back here sooner?” Stephanie asked.

Dick and Tim both frowned, not wanting to say the reason that they all knew.

“Because he blames me for what happened,” Bruce said. “Which he isn’t wrong about. Everything he’s ever said to any of you made it quite clear what he thinks about me supporting your extracurricular activities.” Bruce looked to Damian and gave him a small smile. “Of course, I’m sure he didn’t want to leave Damian alone in the League either.”

“Why the name Albari?” Tim asked Damian.

“Albari is very similar to the word Albarid, which roughly translates to ‘The Cold One’. Mother said she named him that because his skin was always cold to the touch,” Damian said. “And he was always cold to the touch, but he never seemed to notice.”

No one knew what to say after that. Alfred re-entered the room a few minutes later.

“Please, continue, Master Bruce.”

“Tonight, we need to find Jason, and we need to bring him home. He’ll be safer here, with us. We’ve all had experience fighting League Assassins, and we can help,” Bruce said.

“How are we going to find him?” Stephanie asked. “We’ve been trying to do that for almost two years, B.”

Bruce’s neutral face turned into that of a small smile. “Well, we’re going to stage a trap.” Everyone in the room turned to look at Tim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I hope you all liked this one! I'm almost certain that the next chapter will a) be longer and b) be posted sometime tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trap? Sprung. Jason? Not happy. Bruce? Upset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, as always, for all the kudos and comments, I love them a lot and it's a huge part of how I felt motivated enough to get this story out so fast! We're approaching probably the last 3 or 4 chapters and I'm excited to see how you all like the ending.
> 
> On another note, I've had two good questions from the comments about the story that I haven't made super clear yet, so I thought I'd expand on them here. 
> 
> First, a very good question from ry: The one thing I am a little confused about is the huge age difference between Jason and Tim (and Steph).
> 
> So, in this story, the ages as they stand are thus: Dick is 26, Jason is 21, Tim is 16 (the birthday scene should have had Tim turn 16, not 14, my bad), Steph is 16, Damian is 11. A basic rundown of the timeline is that Bruce met Dick when Dick was 10, Dick is Robin for 7 years and then quits and runs off to Bludhaven. At this point, Jason is 12 and he meets Batman. Jason is Robin for 3 years until he's 15 when he's killed. At that point, Tim (and Steph) are 10. Tim confronts Bruce and becomes Robin a year later when he's 11. Jason (15-16) arrives at Nanda Parbat when Damian is 5. Jason stays there for 3 years (give or take some time travelling with teachers and with the All Caste). Damian is 8-9 when Jason (19) dies for the second time. Jason arrives in Gotham to help protect Tim (14). Stephanie shows up a year later and starts as Spoiler when she's 15. She's promoted to Batgirl when she's 16. Damian arrives in Gotham that year and turns 11.
> 
> Okay, then the second thing is a good point raised by EasfitHadia asking why Jason doesn't trust Talia. I feel like I definitely did not make this as obvious as I should have. So I will explain it here.
> 
> In the 4th chapter, when Damian is telling Dick about Albari, Damian mentions that Albari had used the Lazarus pit before, and had told Talia not to use it on him again. Of course, we know that Albari is Jason and that Talia did use a Lazarus pit to bring him back to life again. So she went against his wishes on that front. Then we also have the circumstances surrounding his second death where she just watched and didn't try to interject herself. Jason doesn't blame her for that, but it did bring up some old memories of another mother figure watching him be killed 👀. He is also not super happy that she just let Ra's do whatever he wanted to Damian, but he does recognize that she didn't have much of a choice. 
> 
> So that's the rundown of the relationship between Jason and Talia, and also the explanation of the age gaps between all the Batkids!

Tim was the bait. He was propped up against a wall on a roof that he and Ghost had gathered on before, clutching his side that was covered in fake blood. A bit much, Tim thought, but Dick was convinced it had to be serious in order to guarantee Ghost would show. To guarantee that  _ Jason _ would show.

So Tim waited with his eyes closed for what felt like a very long time. Obviously, the others must have gotten tired of waiting, so they started expressing concerns on the comms, which they suspected he had access to.

“Robin!” Bruce fake-snapped. “Come in!”

“Come on baby bird,” Dick’s voice spoke. “We’re really worried about you.”

Oh, they were laying it on thick. So thick that Tim had begun to think that there was no way Jason would buy it. But then he came anyway.

Jason landed in front of him and Tim opened his eyes. “Owch, so wounded, so… bleeding.”

Ghost shook his head and sighed, “Jesus, what the fuck are you doing? Is that fake blood?”

“Surprise?” Tim asked hesitantly as the other members of the family stepped out of their hiding places.

Jason visibly tensed but relaxed a little when he saw Damian.

“You know kid, I was going to come see you again, you didn’t need to stage Timmy’s murder.”

“Tt. This was not my idea.”

They couldn’t see Ghost’s face, but somehow they all knew he was smiling at the kid.

“Alright short stack, you’re off the shitlist. The rest of you… different story.” He looked mostly at Dick and Bruce.

“Jaybird…” Dick spoke first. “Is that really you? I know Bruce said it was, but…”

Jason sighed and began to remove the mask that covered his entire face. The first thing that Bruce noticed was the hair. It was completely white. And then he noticed the eyes. They were a glowing green that perfectly mimicked the colour of the Lazarus pit. There was no doubt in Bruce’s mind that with corneas that reflective, Jason would be able to see in the dark better than a cat.

“Tt. Your hair is much more white than usual,” Damian commented. He, of course, was not at all startled by Jason’s appearance.

“Yeah, the second dip in the Lazarus pit took out the rest of the black.”

“It looks better this way, less like a cow,” Damian said with a small smirk.

Jason chuckled and shook his head as he messed up Damian’s hair. “Brat.” He then turned to Bruce, who was just standing there, with an amused expression. “What? Still expecting me to look like a fifteen-year-old?”

“Yes,” Bruce croaked. He took a step forward and Ghost definitely noticed that Bruce was approaching him. Jason turned to look down at Tim.

He offered the boy his hand. “Come on, up we get replacement.”

Tim sputtered at the nickname. “I- no, that’s not- I’m not- you’re-”

Jason laughed deeply and Bruce savoured the sound. “Don’t worry about it Timbit. You’re an upgraded model. T'is a compliment.”

Tim looked at Jason strangely. “So you’re not… mad?”

“Well, no. Not at you. I feel like I’ve made this plenty clear.” Jason said. “At first, yes, I was really upset, but… that was mostly the Lazarus pit talking, and you’re a good kid, Tim. So no worries.”

“Oh,” Tim said. His eyes were alight with excitement. “Cool. You’re- you’re kind of my childhood hero?” Tim admitted hesitantly. “I used to follow you and Bruce around with a camera and take pictures.”

Jason raised an eyebrow as Stephanie held back giggles. “Huh, well. That’s a little strange, but thanks, I guess.”

Tim turned to look at Stephanie, “Why did I just tell him that?” He mouthed silently.

Stephanie could no longer contain herself, she burst out laughing. “Oh my god, oh my god, you just told your childhood hero your most embarrassing stalker story!”

Jason grinned at Stephanie. “Oh, you and I are going to get on great, Blondie.”

“What’s with all the nicknames?” Steph asked.

“Well you see, B started it and-”

Dick almost didn’t hear what everyone was saying. He and Bruce were just standing there, staring at the rest of the family interacting with Jason like nothing much had changed. But everything had changed, at least for them.

Jason finished telling the younger ones the story about how Bruce had just started calling Jason crazier and crazier nicknames until he just couldn't handle it anymore and called Bruce ‘dad’ to ‘get revenge’ by shocking him into silence. And then Bruce started crying.

Jason, along with everyone else, froze.

“Shit,” Jason muttered under his breath. “Maybe you kids should head home, let the adults have a serious talk.” Jason sent a half-hearted glare at Tim. “And you need to change and have a shower because that is already starting to smell.”

Tim looked down at the fake blood coating the uniform and grimaced. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

“Tt. I wish to stay,” Damian protested.

“Damian, please, go with-” Bruce began.

“No. This concerns all of us. I wish to  _ stay _ .”

“No, Dami,” Jason spoke.

“Tt. And why not?” Damian demanded.

“Because I’m gonna yell at them, and that is not something I want you to see, alright?”

Damian frowned. “They didn’t do anything wrong.” He put up a weak defence.

Jason scoffed a little, “Sure, kid.”

Damian narrowed his eyes but nodded his head curtly. “Fine then. Goodnight ahki.”

“Goodnight, habibi,” Jason replied. Damian scowled a little at the term, but he didn’t say anything. He left with Tim and Stephanie.

Jason stood in front of them with defensive posture, as if they were going to attack him.

“Jaylad…” Bruce breathed. “I don’t know where to start. Why didn’t you come home? After all this time?”

Jason frowned. “Come home to a city where the man who murdered me lived?”

Bruce swallowed. “He never got out-”

“Until a few days ago. Where he specifically stated that he would have gotten out on his own anyway,” Jason interjected. “I get why you couldn’t have killed him, I really do. But I read every fucking court document, and I read the part that you tried to bury. So I have one question. Why?”

Bruce’s blood went cold. Dick turned to Bruce and frowned. “What’s he talking about, B?”

Jason smirked coldly. “Oh, go ahead, tell him what you did.”

“I gave a written recommendation to the judge that he be sent to Arkham where I could design a security system that would actually work,” Bruce answered.

“You missed a part,” Jason spoke cruelly.

“I… recommended that he be sent to Arkham, rather than… rather than a trial that would have introduced the death penalty as an option for him.”

“B,” Dick started, his voice shaking. “That piece of shit could have been legally removed from everyone’s lives permanently, but  _ you _ stopped it?”

“It’s not our place to be judge, jury and-”

“But it  _ is _ literally those people’s jobs!” Dick yelled. “You stopped the trial! You stopped the judge and the jury and the-”

“It wasn’t because I didn’t want him dead! I did, I was going to do it myself!” Both boys were shocked into silence. “I told them to release him to Arkham so that I could go there and kill him myself,” Bruce spoke in a soft, haunting voice. “And I almost did, but Clark showed up and stopped me.” He swallowed. “I was going to try again, but then I… I went there and he seemed… he seemed scared. That I wasn’t coming back, that we were all going to forget about him. So I changed my mind. I designed the best security system in the world for Arkham and I never went and saw that clown again.”

Dick was not sure what to think of that. On one hand, he was still mad about the trial and Bruce’s interference in the matter. On the other hand, he was actually happy at the course Bruce had chosen in the end.

Jason was also processing.

“I’m sorry, Jason. I’m so sorry.”

“For not killing the Joker? Or for something else?” Jason questioned.

“Both.” Bruce took a breath. “I abandoned you there when your mother-” Jason made a face “-was in danger. I never should have expected that you’d stay there and do nothing while she was in trouble. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner.”

Jason met Bruce’s eyes. “Oh, you did abandon me, just not in Ethiopia.” His voice was cold and hard and sharp.

“I don’t understand, I-”

“Felipe Garzonas.”

A simple name, but it held so much meaning.

“What?” Dick asked.

“You thought I killed him, didn’t you? Even after I had told you that he fell?” Jason questioned. “That was the day you abandoned me, Bruce. That was the day I lost my dad because Batman replaced him. And you know how you get Batman’s attention?”

Realization dawned behind Bruce’s eyes six years too late. “I… I didn’t.”

“You get Batman’s attention by hurting people,” Jason answered his own question. “And I had bad PTSD, Bruce, even back then. You don’t survive all alone as a homeless kid on the streets of the most dangerous city in the country without seeing some shit. So every time I saw a scumbag that reminded me of one of the awful things I saw, of course I lost it. I needed therapy, Bruce. I needed to go to sleep without being reminded of how fucked up the world was for one night in my life. Instead, I got Batman. My problem with you isn’t about you not saving me, it’s about how you let me down, over and over again, because your crusade mattered more than your  _ son _ . And then you just kept doing it. With Tim, with Stephanie, with Damian. So no, I never came home, because you never learned. Because you never understood why what happened happened.”

Bruce looked to Dick, who looked like he was having a personal crisis as well.

“I… you’re right, Little Wing,” Dick eventually spoke. Jason flinched at the nickname. “You’re right. B hasn’t made all the right choices, and I understand why you didn’t want- why you didn’t want to come back here. But why did you never come to visit me in Bludhaven? I wouldn’t have told Bruce. I swear I wouldn’t have.”

“Oh Dick, obviously you’re remembering our relationship as more than a little better than it really was. You hated me, I resented you. Every single one of your friends never missed an opportunity to remind me that I was just an imposter and that I would never be you. Honestly, coming to you didn’t even cross my mind.”

Dick wiped the tears from his face. “I’m sorry, that I wasn’t a better brother to you.”

“It’s alright,” Jason said. “I know you tried harder, after. Damian absolutely adores you, and he’s… he’s difficult to get to open up.”

Dick nodded, “I’d like to try again. With you.”

Jason looked at him uncertainly, but Dick was nearly crying and his big eyes looked so sad. “Okay. Okay, we can try again.”

Dick looked over the moon, but he knew not to go in for a hug. He didn’t want to push his luck too much.

“Does Alfred know?” Jason asked.

“I told him this afternoon,” Bruce said.

Jason nodded. “I’ll be in touch, then.” He turned to leave.

“Jason wait!” Bruce called. “It’s not safe. I know you hate me, but please, come back to the manor with us. You don’t have to talk to me, you can stay in one of the wings of the house alone, but please, don’t stay out here.”

Jason’s eyes looked unconvinced. He put the mask back over his head. “I don’t hate you.” he leapt off.

Bruce turned to Dick. “Don’t,” he gritted. “Don’t even start. I’m- I’m furious with you right now and I don’t want to say something I don’t mean.”

Bruce swallowed and kept his mouth closed the whole way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked the chapter! As always I'd love to hear what you all think!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone breaks a cycle. Ra's takes a fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, Ra's is back and angrier than ever!

Jason sent his feelers out across Gotham and beyond. If Ra’s made a move, he would know.

He got some comfort food and sat in his safehouse apartment reading. He couldn’t really focus on the plot, however. He was too busy rethinking every moment of his last conversation with Bruce. Had he been too harsh? Had he been too forgiving? It was really hard to tell. He felt bad about it, but he was still uncertain whether that ‘bad’ meant guilty or angry.

It wasn’t that what he had said wasn’t the truth as far as he was concerned. Honestly, the thing with the Joker brought up more shit than Jason had wanted. It was like he had told Talia, he was always the one who had to save himself. Which was fine. Really. He could do it, and throughout his life, it had made him stronger. But it stung, that despite having so many people who would supposedly do anything for him, he was still alone when it came down to it. 

He had no doubt that he was going to have to deal with the problem of Ra’s himself too. Which was fine. He didn’t want Talia or Damian anywhere near the man again. He checked his phone. He had gotten an encoded message.

Tonight. Jason’s sources told him Ra’s himself was coming into Gotham and that he was going to arrive that night.

Jason didn’t have much time to prepare. He had hoped he would have had more. He wanted to speak with Damian again and he wanted to re-introduce himself to Alfred. Letters would have to do. Just in case.

As the night quickly approached, he suited up and made his location obvious. On the top of Wayne tower was where Ra’s and Jason stood face to face for the first time since Ra’s had cut Jason’s throat.

“You’re a foolish boy, Albari,” Ra’s spoke menacingly. Ninja surrounded the rooftop and more filed down into the lower floors.

“And I think you’re a shitstain of a man, so I guess it’s mutual,” Jason retorted.

“When I find my daughter, do not doubt that she will pay greatly for betraying me again,” Ra’s said. “Unless… you surrender to me now.”

Jason smirked and shook his head. “You really do think I’m an idiot, don’t you?” He unsheathed his sword.

Ra’s did the same with his. “This will not end differently.”

“Oh, I think it will,” Jason said. He made the first move. It went quite well until Ra’s managed to land a kick to the face, which caused his nose to start bleeding. Jason removed the mask so he could breathe easier.

Jason also noticed the movement of ninja from the rooftop he and Ra’s were duelling on toward the surrounding rooftops. They were expecting company.

Sure enough, the bats appeared. But they couldn’t reach Jason and Ra’s, too busy trying to get through the hordes of indistinguishable ninja.

In hindsight, Jason would admit that duelling Ra’s, as he was, wasn’t his brightest idea. He wasn’t at the peak of his game. He hadn’t had any formal training in quite some time and the only people he’s been practicing with were the criminal element of Gotham, which was nowhere near the same level as Ra’s al Ghul.

So when he faltered and Ra’s disarmed him, he had no choice but to use the All Blades. Unfortunately, using those weapons was quite draining. And if used for too long, fatal. He stumbled again, and Ra’s managed to slash his chest. Jason was having deja vu, he was on his back and Ra’s was in front of him. This time, Ra’s didn’t need guards to hold Jason up. He was already exhausted.

Ra’s smirked down at the boy as he raised his sword. “No one is here to save you. You’re alone now, just as you always have been. This time, I will grant you the mercy of making certain that death sticks.”

He was about to cut down into Jason when another blade intercepted Ra’s’.

Jason shut his eyes and let his head fall as relief overtook his body. “Mom,” Jason breathed.

Talia was the image of fury as she shoved her father back.

“You will never touch my son again!” She shouted. She attacked him in a flurry of blades and blood and she was winning. Jason got to his feet and picked up the sword that Ra’s had flung to the side. He moved toward the fight, reinvigorated by Talia’s spirit.

He blocked any slashes that Ra’s might have landed. Together, they had him at the brink of defeat.

“This is hardly proper League protocol,” Ra’s snarled at Talia.

She smiled cruelly. “You never seemed to care for that before.”

Ra’s took that moment to swing for Jason’s head. Something the boy had not been expecting and therefore was in no position to block. But Talia parried his sword and then pulled out a second sword from behind her to shove into his chest.

Ra’s stumbled back in shock, and he fell. He fell off the edge of Wayne tower.

Every assassin stilled and then began to retreat.

“Should we, you know, do something about the body?” Jason asked.

Talia peered over the edge. “Not even a Lazarus pit could stitch that back together.”

Jason let out a small laugh at that. “You came.”

Talia cupped Jason’s cheek. “Of course I came. You’re my son, and I will never stand by while someone hurts you, never again. I swear. Can you ever forgive me, for not avenging you?”

Jason hugged her tightly. “Of course I can.”

…

Seeing Jason with Talia, hugging her, openly displaying affection, it hurt Bruce a little, but he was more relieved that Talia had managed to get to him in time.

He landed on the rooftop. Damian beat him to an introduction.

The boy ran up to them and Jason hugged him tightly. Talia put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Is he gone?” Damian asked.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” Jason replied.

“I got your letter,” Damian said softly. 

_ Dear Dami, _

_ Listen, I know I said that I’d come by and visit soon, but Ra’s has moved up the timetable on all this, so I’m not sure when you’ll see me next. Just in case it’s not for a while. Can you do two things for me? Can you make sure that no one in the family gets themselves killed while I’m dealing with this? And can you also watch out for yourself? Because I don’t know what I’d do if I came back and found out that you’d gotten hurt. _

_ Love, Albi. _

“I instantly knew you were going to do something stupid like this.”

Jason chuckled. “Well, thank goodness mom came and helped me out then.”

“Tt. Yes. But in the future, you are forbidden from taking such risks.”

“Forbidden? By who?” Jason asked teasingly.

“By Pennyworth,” Damian replied seriously.

That was serious. “Oh, crap. How mad is he?”

He glanced over to Tim, who was showing 9/10 on his fingers.

“Ouch, that’s not good,” Jason said.

“Are you hurt at all?” Dick asked.

“Probably need a few stitches, but-” Jason put his hand on his nose to check it wasn’t broken “-face is fine and besides being super tired, I’m good.”

“I’m surprised you were able to hold the All Blades that long, habibi,” Talia commented.

“Me too,” Jason confessed.

She brushed some of his hair out of his face. “Now. Go with your father and get looked at. Allow me to deal with the League for now.”

Jason took a breath. “Alright. Yeah.”

Damian was looking pleased as punch and Bruce was just watching the whole exchange like he was just imagining it.

Jason exchanged some quiet words with Talia and then she left.

“Well, let’s go then,” Jason said.

Dick grinned, “Race back to the cave! Last one back has to feed the bats tomorrow!”

All the bat kids took off and Bruce, who was still just standing there, could faintly hear Jason ask: “Wait, you guys  _ feed _ the bats now?”

He didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he was… hopeful. And he was outrageously happy, because for the first time ever. His family would be under one roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the awesome comments! I love reading them so much. The next chapter should probably be up sometime on the weekend. I feel like it's probably going to be tomorrow, but we'll see.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred meets the man of the hour. Jason and Bruce come to somewhat of an understanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sorry for the delay everyone! Hope you all enjoy!

When Bruce arrived at the cave, everyone had dispersed, except for Jason, who was waiting for him.

“Hey, B. Just wanted to uh…” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “Just wanted to apologize for the other night. What I said might have been true for me, but I kinda have a feeling that it wasn’t for you. And either way, it was a dick move to throw all that back in your face like that. Well, I’ve never dealt with confronting emotions well. I guess I get that from you. But you have to admit, using Timmy as bait to ambush me with a family reunion was also kind of shitty.” Jason looked away. The entire exchange was incredibly awkward. “Anyway, I’m sorry.”

“No,  _ I _ am sorry, Jason. You’re right, I shouldn’t have ambushed you like that. I was just worried. And… it doesn’t matter whether what you said was true for me. I was- I’m the adult and I should have been the one to communicate why I was doing the things I did and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Jason nodded slowly. “I don’t know if I can forgive you right now, I just… I’m very conflicted about a lot of things. But… I’m done hiding from you. So, I think maybe we can just… see where this goes.”

Bruce nodded and wiped away a stray tear. “That’s- that would be nice.”

Jason smiled at him.

They both turned to the stairs when they heard a familiar clearing of the throat.

“Master Jason,” the old man started. “It is very good to have you home.”

Jason smiled and hugged Alfred. “It’s really good to see you, Alfred.”

“Likewise, my boy.”

“Now, I believe Master Richard told me you were injured.”

“Eh, just need a few stitches, but I’ll do them myself, Alf.”

Alfred and Bruce frowned simultaneously. “Why on Earth would you do that when there is a house full of people who likely have more experience than most doctors in the art of suturing a wound?” Alfred questioned.

“Well. I’m just gonna be upfront here.” Jason took a breath. “The Lazarus pit doesn’t get rid of scars.”

Alfred looked to Jason with confusion while Bruce paled as he realized why that was relevant.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Jason thought of a way to tactfully put it. “There are… a lot of scars. I don’t want to upset you.”

Alfred raised an eyebrow at the boy. “Master Jason, I am certain, whatever you are concerned about me seeing, I have seen before on someone else.”

Jason shook his head but started to undo his uniform anyway. “Alright, Alf, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Bruce wanted to look away, but he found that he couldn’t. He was compelled to look at Jason’s scars and decide how badly he had been hurt in his… time away.

Jason wore a thin, temperature control layer under the suit that fit tightly. Bruce mentally did some measurements. The young man should fit into Bruce’s clothes until they get him some of his own.

Then he took that off. Alfred, to his credit, didn’t visibly react. The old man focused only on the wound that was currently bleeding.

Bruce, on the other hand, examined every single one. There was the most obvious, the Y-incision autopsy scar. Then there was the large scar on the lower part of his throat that he received from Ra’s. There were also large crisscrosses on his shoulders, arms and all over his back, likely from the Joker. Then there were the familiar scars from when Jason had been Robin and had gotten injured. But that didn’t even scratch the surface of the scars Bruce could see.

“Let me just get some anesthetic and then-”

“No need, that stuff doesn’t work on me anymore,” Jason interrupted.

Alfred frowned. “So what do you take, then?”

Jason flashed him a smile that was supposed to be reassuring but absolutely was not.

“Nothing works, so… I just…” Jason shrugged.

Alfred looked at Jason with eyes full of sadness. “I am terribly sorry.” He touched the boy’s arm and his eyebrows rose with surprise. “My boy, you are practically ice. Are you ill?”

“No, just another after effect of being undead, if I had to guess,” Jason said. He looked at Alfred’s hands and gently took the suturing kit from him. “Just let me do it, Alf. I always do it. And it’s easier to brace for the… sensation when I know exactly when it’s happening and where.”

Alfred took a step back. “Yes, I’m afraid my hands are not as steady tonight as they usually are. I think I’d blame it a little on a hastily written letter,” he said pointedly.

_ Dear Alfred, _

_ I haven’t gotten the chance to come by and see you in person yet, but I heard that you know I’m alive again. I’m sorry I never told you. Out of everyone and everything that I left behind, you were always the one thing that would almost get me to step on a plane and come back. _

_ I’m sorry that the first time you’ll hear from me is this letter, but I have to take care of something and I didn’t want to leave you hanging. _

_ You were, are, incredibly important to me. I don’t think I ever really expressed how much I loved cooking with you or thanked you for all those nights I had nightmares and you’d stay up with me and we’d watch Downton Abbey until I fell asleep. _

_ So thank you, and I’m really excited to see you again, _

_ Love Jason. _

Jason smirked a little as he wiped down his wound with a sterile wipe.

“So, tell me about something. What’s been going on at the manor while I’ve been gone,” Jason spoke.

Alfred stood to his side, holding a mirror while Jason gave himself stitches and told him about the comings and goings the past few weeks. He also told Jason about the Downton Abbey movie that they made and said that the two of them would have to watch it.

Jason finished and realized that Bruce had just been watching him the entire time.

“How about we have a drink, and I tell the two of you a story,” Jason said.

Alfred nodded, “I’ll get the good scotch.”

Alfred went upstairs and Jason stood to face Bruce.

“My favourite scar would have to be…” Jason trailed off as he tried to locate it on his arm. “This one.” Jason pointed to one of the fainter ones, just under his elbow, on the meat of his forearm. “Damian was six and he stabbed me with a fork because he was jealous that I was spending more time with Talia than he was.” Bruce let out a chuckle at that. Jason grinned as he spotted another good one. “This-” he pointed to something just above his hip bone. It was a thin white line, not very long. “-was left by me slipping in the shower.”

Bruce looked a little confused. “Why are you-”

“I’m just saying that this looks bad. But… not every scar is a mark of a bad thing. So you don’t have to keep looking at me wondering what terrible things happened to make all these marks.”

Bruce nodded a little. “Right.” He looked toward the stairs. “Let’s get you some clothes and then…”

“And then let’s get drunk,” Jason finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up tomorrow! As always, I'd love to hear what you guys think!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason drinks a lot. Tim gets some help figuring things out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! I think this is just a cute, fluffy chapter and I hope you like it!

Jason was dressed in athletic sweatpants and a polo. He was lounging on the side of an armchair while Bruce poured him another glass of scotch. Bruce looked at the bottle blearily. “Jaylad, how are you still... “ Bruce trailed off.

“Conscious?” Jason asked with a grin. They both looked over at Alfred who was asleep.

“Yeah, that.”

“Well, when I was with the League, I would go out and train with different people all over for a few weeks, sometimes a couple of months at a time. I spent… three months in Russia, learning everything I could about bombs. And also about holding your liquor.”

Bruce took a breath. “I cannot drink anymore.” He was just blinking at the almost empty bottle.

Jason laughed quietly. “Alright big man, time to go to sleep. I’ll get Alfred to his room.” Jason shook Alfred gently as Bruce put down the bottle. “Alf, time to go to sleep.”

“But Master Jason…” Alfred said woozily. “We haven’t even covered half of your story.”

Jason smiled easily. “That’s alright, there’ll be more nights, and more scotch.”

“Indeed.”

Alfred allowed Jason to help him up the stairs. “Night Alfred.”

Alfred hugged the boy. “You must promise me that you won’t ever run off like that again.”

“I promise, Alf.” Jason patted the man gently on the back. “Have a good sleep.”

“Goodnight, Master Jason.”

Jason went back downstairs to turn the lights off and found that Bruce was still standing there in the room.

“B, come on. Time to go to sleep.”

Bruce moved quickly and hugged Jason before he could move. Jason stiffened, but when he felt Bruce’s shoulders shaking, he wrapped his arms around the man.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a sad drunk, B.”

Bruce shuddered. “The last time I- the last time I  _ held _ you, you were dead. I wouldn’t let go. Alfred had to get me to stop.” Bruce gripped Jason tighter. “I wanted to die. I wish, every day, that I had died there, instead of you, or even with you. I love you. Please don’t go again. Please.”

Jason did not know what to make of that. He just knew he had to get Bruce to sleep. “Okay, I’m not going anywhere, B. But I’m tired and we both need to sleep, so let’s walk up to your room, okay?”

Bruce complied and Jason got the man into his bed. But Bruce wouldn’t let go of Jason. “Please, stay.”

Jason groaned. He flopped onto the bed beside Bruce and laid there until the man was solidly asleep.

Then Jason got up and left. He went to the roof. There was already someone occupying his old spot.

“Tim,” Jason greeted as he fully pulled himself up from the window.

Tim was slightly startled. “Oh! Jason. Err… I was just leaving-”

“No it’s alright, don’t let me disturb you.”

Tim took a deep breath through his nose and then turned to Jason and frowned. “Are you drunk? Should you even be up here?”

“I’m… slightly buzzed. I’ll be fine.” They sat in silence for a while. Surprisingly, Jason was the one who spoke first. “I used to come up here all the time. Mostly when I was trying to quit smoking and I would come up here to smoke so Alfred wouldn’t find out. But then I realized that it has such a great view and started coming up here when I couldn’t sleep.”

Tim let out a breath, “Yeah, it is a really nice view of Gotham.” He looked at Jason. “I think… I think I should move out.”

Jason frowned. “Why? You’re 16, Timmy. That seems very unnecessary.”

“I came here to try and fix the hole that you left. But you’re back, and my guardianship review comes up in two months. I’ve been thinking about petitioning for emancipation.”

“Timmy, you’re an idiot.”

Tim turned to Jason sharply. “What?”

“Bruce loves you. You’re his baby bird, Timbo. He’s not going to let you move out so he can replay the same nightmare he lived through with Dick. He seems to have regressed into a grunting caveman since I left, true, but I can still tell what he’s feeling, Tim. He loves you. As much as I tease, you aren’t my replacement, you’re Tim. And everyone loves Tim.”

Jason laid down against the smooth surface of the roof.

“Do you really think that?” Tim asked.

“Yeah. And besides, even if I was completely wrong, I still wouldn’t let you go. Neither would Alfred or Dick or Stephanie or even Damian, even if he would never admit it. I’m your big brother. I’m not letting you run away.”

Tim laid back beside Jason. “Huh, well there goes that idea.”

“It was a stupid idea.”

Tim sighed. “You really think Damian actually likes me at all?”

“Of course he does. He’s a little mental, but if there is one thing Talia instilled in that kid, it’s that you  _ always _ look out for your family.”

“And that’s me?”

“And that’s you.”

“Huh.” Tim was wearing a completely fuzzy sweatsuit and he curled up in it a little.

“So, Steph tells me that you’re dating a certain speedster?” Jason asked.

Tim blushed. “Steph,” he groaned. “Why does she keep doing that?”

“Because you’re adorable when you’re embarrassed. Now, spill.”

Tim spent the next half hour detailing how Bart was cute and they went on cute secret dates and the entire thing left Jason with a fuzzy feeling.

“I have never heard anything more adorable.”

Tim pouted. “Well, what about you? Are you dating anyone?”

“Not really. The last girl was a goddess older than time. Did not work out. Her mother liked me better than her, caused some resentment.”

Tim laughed a little, thinking Jason was joking, but then stared at the man with wide eyes. “Wait… really?”

“Yep. She tried to stab me. Well… technically she succeeded in stabbing me, but her sword is magic and it only works on people with evil souls, so… yeah.”

“Wow, that’s kind of messed up.”

“Yeah, she was weird.”

“But you liked her anyway.”

“Oh yeah. She was… I don’t really know how to describe her. It was good while it lasted. I knew it couldn’t continue because I had to come back to the real world sometime, but that ending was not exactly what I had had in mind.”

“Huh. Steph and I should totally set you up with someone.”

“Well, as long as you promise they aren’t going to stab me with a magic sword, then I guess it couldn’t end any worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, there are going to be two more chapters after this one, and then I'm gonna do like a fun deleted scenes sort of thing for the last 'chapter' because I have so many good things that I didn't put in here because I didn't think that they flowed well, so you guys will see some of those too.  
> The next chapter will be posted on Wednesday.
> 
> As always, I love hearing what you guys think!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason protects his brother. Said brother is not too happy about the result. Bruce confesses some dark thoughts. Dick and Jason start a team-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this one. I'm not gonna lie, I feel it's not my best work, but the last chapter is much better, so I hope you're all excited about that!

So everyone was all under one roof again. Great! But not really. Alongside having to figure out both what Jason’s triggers were and how to avoid them, they also had to deal with the fact that none of them were exactly okay with Jason prioritizing their safety over his own. Especially Dick.

Jason still went out as Ghost. And his primary goal was still to protect the kids. Now he did take on cases that concerned him, but most of the time he ran around the city, between the patrol routes of the batkids, stopping crimes on his way, but mainly keeping an eye on them.

Dick was dealing with Blackmask, someone who had started to hate Ghost with a burning passion, so Jason was told specifically not to interfere.

Of course, Jason still hovered around the area anyway. So when Dick called for help, Jason arrived on the scene just in time to see Blackmask and his men tie Nightwing up and start beating on him.

“Hey! Assholes!” He called as he dropped in and started beating the crap out of everyone present.

Then, frustratingly, Black Mask did something clever. He was behind Dick and had a gun to the man’s head. Dick looked up blearily at Jason. “Ghost? No… run.”

“Come any closer and I’ll blow his brains out,” Blackmask threatened.

“Alright,” Ghost said. He put his hands in the air. “What’s your plan here, Roman?”

“Shut up!” He snapped.

Jason looked at Dick and saw that he was already halfway out of his ties, but Roman’s finger was on the trigger, and it was shaking.

“Just shoot me,” Jason started. “I know you want to. And then you can always shoot him later because he’s still tied up. But if you shoot him first, then there’s nothing to stop me from killing you.”

Roman did consider that. He stepped out from behind Dick and was now pointing the gun at Jason. “I think I’ll still shoot him.” He pulled the trigger twice in quick succession, and Jason lunged forward just in time to prevent him from shooting a third time. Dick burst out of his ropes and knocked Roman out cold.

“Little wing, are you-” Dick froze when he saw the white of Jason’s suit slowly start to soak with red. Dick pressed his comms. “B, Ghost is down, he needs emergency medical. Two GSW’s to the torso. He’s losing a lot of blood.”

Dick helped Jason to the floor gently. It seemed the man was in a slight state of shock.

“Jay, why did you do that?” Dick asked as he put pressure on one of the wounds.

“‘You're my brother,” Jason slurred. He coughed and Dick took off the mask to see that he was spitting up blood. Bruce was yelling in their ears, but neither of them heard him clearly.

“Please, just stay awake, okay?” Dick begged him.

“I’m gonna be fine.” Jason had a faraway look in his eyes that Dick didn’t like.

“Yep, you’re going to be as good as new once we get you to Leslie’s.” Dick pressed harder on one of the wounds, eliciting a sharp gasp from Jason. “I’m sorry, I know it hurts.”

“Not the most painful way to-to die.”

Dick shook his head. “You’re not dying, you’re not allowed. Please Jason, no, don’t shut your eyes!”

“‘M just… taking a nap,” Jason said quietly.

“No, you can’t, not right now, okay? I’m sorry, you can sleep later okay?” Jason’s eyes were still closing despite Dick’s pleas. “I’m scared Jay, I’m really scared, please, I need you to be with me here.” That did the trick.

“It’s alright, Dickie. I got you,” Jason murmured.

Bruce burst through the doors of the warehouse with the Batmobile.

He knelt beside Jason and Dick. And Jason smiled up at him painfully. “Look Dickie, it’s dad. You’re gonna be fine.” Jason's eyes started slipping closed.

“No! Jason! I still need you! Please! Keep your eyes open!” Dick begged.

“Jaylad, Dick’s right, I need you to look at me, son.”

“But dad…” Jason whined. Bruce was taken back to when Jason was just a little boy. “I’m so tired.”

“I know you are,” Bruce said. He picked Jason up carefully. “But you have to stay awake. I know it hurts, but I also know that you’re strong.” Dick got into the back of the Batmobile and Bruce gently laid Jason back there, with his head in Dick’s lap.

“Little Wing,” Dick breathed as he wiped some of the white hair from Jason’s face. “You saved me. Thank you.”

Jason looked like he was somewhere else. He murmured something in Arabic, something about Damian.

“What did he say?” Dick asked Bruce as they rocketed through the streets.

“He told Damian not to go into the canyon alone.”

Dick gripped Jason’s hand. “We’re almost there, Jason. Just hold on.”

Jason squeezed Dick’s hand.

Dick didn’t leave Jason’s side once. Damian and Bruce were very much the same.

When Jason woke up, it was in the middle of the day, and everyone was in the room.

He looked over to see who was sitting on the edge of his bed to the right and smiled a little when he saw that it was Damian arguing with Tim about something to do with Animal Crossing and turnips. Dick and Bruce were having a quiet conversation in the corner. Alfred was knitting across from Stephanie, who was reading.

Dick noticed first. “Jason,” he breathed.

Bruce excused himself to go get Leslie. Domain turned around and Alfred and Stephanie stopped what they were doing.

“What?” Jason asked. “Did someone die?” He had a wolfish grin on his face.

“Tt. That is not funny,” Damian said with a scowl.

Dick had plopped down on the chair to Jason’s left. “You alright, Dickie?”

Dick just stared at him. “Am  _ I _ alright?” He repeated.

Alfred, sensing an argument that was private, stood. “Come now, young Masters, let us give them the room for a moment.”

“You told him to shoot you!” Dick burst. “You gave someone permission to kill you! Why would you do that?!”

Jason shook his head, “He wasn’t going to kill me.”

“How did you know that?”

“Because he wasn’t aiming for my head, and his hand was too shaky, he wouldn’t have made the shot anyway. I knew you were almost out, so I took a chance, and it worked. We’re both fine.”

Dick looked at him incredulously. “We are not both fine!” He wiped his cheeks. “You flatlined in my arms on the way here!”

Jason frowned. “Oh.” He looked away from Dick. “He would have shot you in the head, you know. I don’t know if you saw it, but his finger was-” Jason stopped. “So… I guess you can be mad at me if you want, but I’m happy with the way things worked out.”

Dick made a growling noise in the back of his throat. “You’re such an idiot! An idiot with no self-preservation!”

Bruce and Leslie walked in and froze at the door.

Dick turned on his heel and stormed out.

Leslie put on her best doctor's face. “Jason, it’s good to see you again. I wish it had been under better circumstances.”

Jason smiled a little, “Thanks, doc.”

“How are you feeling?” She asked. Bruce was standing silently off to her side.

“I feel good, actually,” Jason answered honestly.

“Well, you’ve certainly been healing at a faster than usual rate,” Leslie commented. Then she took a look at his bandages and nodded. “I think if you feel okay, you can probably go home today.”

Jason grinned, “Great news.”

Leslie smiled and then glanced at Bruce. “I’ll give the two of you a moment.”

Jason looked over at Bruce. “Sorry B, I know I freaked Dick out.” Bruce stayed silent. Jason rolled his eyes. “Okay, why is everyone mad at me? I did the only logical thing and I don’t get why-”

“What you did was nowhere near logical,” Bruce ground out. “It was suicidal.”

Jason shook his head as he felt the anger start to build up in him. “He was going to kill Dick, and odds were that however many shots he got off on me weren’t going to be fatal, which I was right about, so of course I took the risk! Would you have rather walked in on Dick’s brains on the floor?!” Jason challenged.

Bruce clenched his jaw. “You had other options.”

“No, I didn’t. I know you know that. You watched the security footage, didn’t you?” Bruce’s silence was an answer. “Well, there you go then. I get you’re upset, okay? I get it. But don’t get all pissy at me about it.”

Bruce shook his head as he sat down beside Jason. “You can’t get it. Not until you have a son who takes everyone else’s hits, not until you have a son that stepped in front of all sorts of danger and pain to protect everyone else.” His voice was quiet. “I understand that I’ve done a terrible job of doing it thus far, but please, will you let me try to protect you? Because I couldn’t handle holding your dead body again, Jason, I couldn’t.”

Jason took Bruce’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry… but I’m not going to stop.”

Bruce blinked a few times, “I’m not asking you to stop. I’m just asking you to think about your own life too.”

Jason scoffed. “What life, Bruce? I’m literally a zombie. Not that I’m going out there and purposefully doing dangerous things for no reason, but if I had to choose between me, or anyone else, I would choose them.”

Bruce shook his head, “But you shouldn’t. What about me? If it was me or you, what would you do?”

“I think that’s pretty obvious, B,” Jason said.

Bruce took a breath. “But it shouldn’t be. I’m your- your-”

“You’re my dad, and you don’t think that it’s right that your son would risk his life for yours,” Jason finished. Bruce’s heart stuttered. “I’m a practical person, B. I know it would hurt you, but so many more people rely on you than me. If you died it would be so much worse.”

Bruce shook his head. “You don’t- you don’t understand.”

“Then help me to,” Jason snapped. “Because I feel like we’re talking in circles here.”

Bruce looked away from Jason. “After you died… I… I tried to kill myself.” Jason's eyes widened. “Tim- he saved my life and I hated him for it, so I was so hard on him because I thought that then he would just leave me alone and I could try again. But he never left.”

Jason stared at Bruce, “I-” Jason had to stop. He didn’t have the words for the situation.

“I just wanted to see you again,” Bruce continued. “Every room in that old house had a memory of you. Every time I woke up in the morning, I forgot that you were gone, and I’d go to your room to wake you up for school and you  _ weren’t there _ .” Bruce took another shaky breath. “I would wake up in the middle of the night, thinking the whole thing was just a terrible nightmare, and I’d try to find you in the house but you were always gone. I’d go up to the roof to see if you were up there, but you never were. On patrol, I’d turn to you and ask what you thought of something and then I’d realize I was alone. I called your phone every day for months, asking you to come back.” Bruce levelled his teary gaze at Jason. “I can’t do that again. I  _ can’t _ .”

Jason nodded smally, “Okay,” he whispered. “Okay.”

Bruce hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry, Jaylad. I’m sorry I let you down.”

Jason buried his head into Bruce’s neck. “No, no, you didn’t. You’re the best dad I’ve ever had, and right before I- I died the first time? All I could think about was that I wanted to hug you again,” Jason said tearfully. “I just wanted my dad.”

So after that, Bruce and Jason worked hard on their relationship. They spent time together, every day. They played chess, or they sparred together, or they would go on walks around the manor.

Jason started calling Bruce ‘dad’ again, which never failed to make Bruce smile genuinely.

Dick was still mad at Jason, however, and continued to avoid him whenever possible.

One night, Jason had decided enough was enough and drove to Bludhaven, broke into Dick’s apartment, and waited for the man to return from patrol.

Dick started a bit when he came in to see a figure standing in his kitchen, but he mostly relaxed once he realized it was Jason.

“Dick. We need to talk,” Jason started. Dick took off his mask and grabbed a glass of water. He leaned against the counter across from Jason. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry that you were even in that situation because I should have been there from the start. We’re brothers, we’re supposed to be looking out for each other and I just let you walk in there when I knew full well it wasn’t going to end well.”

Dick shook his head, “I told you to stay away because I thought he was going to hurt you. And he did. You didn’t listen.”

“He was going to hurt _ you _ ,” Jason protested. “And he did. I don’t need your protection, Dick. I get that you’re an overbearing big brother to the kids, but we’ve never had that relationship, and I for one don’t think it’s fair that you’re limiting us by putting us in that box.”

“Well, what do you suggest then?” Dick snapped.

“I suggest that instead of you feeling like you can’t accept my help because you’re older, we become more like… partners in crime,” Jason said with a small smile. “We have the same goal, protect the city, and protect the kids. So you handle the city, I’ll handle the kids, and maybe we can handle each other too.”

Dick smiled a little at that. “Yeah, alright. But Jay, if I’m ever-”

“Nope, I know what you’re going to say, and I’m not circling back to this. If your life is in danger, I’m going to do what I need to do, Dick. But I can promise that I won’t take unnecessary risk, and I want you to promise me that too.”

Dick seemed placated. “Okay, I promise.”

Jason clapped him on the shoulder. “Great, now. I have a big brother mission for us.”

Dick grinned, “What is it?”

“Well, Stephanie’s dating this kid, Dean something or other, not important. What is important? I don’t like him.”

Dick nodded, following Jason’s exact train of thought. “We’ve gotta get rid of him.”

“Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the last 'chapter' chapter of this story will be posted tomorrow, but on Thursday or Friday I'm gonna do a big dump of all the 'deleted scenes' that I didn't put in here that I still think are either good or funny. So make sure you check back over the next few days!
> 
> As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason is resurrected for the third time. Bruce is tired of these things happening in the kitchen. An old ghost shows up. Jason makes a choice. Bruce does emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I know I said I would post this yesterday, but it got away from me!
> 
> This is the last chapter!! It's been kind of crazy how fast I wrote this, but I've had a great time and I hope you guys liked it too!

Jason fiddled with the top button on his suit.

Bruce looked over at him. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, Jay.”

“No, I… I should. It’ll stop more questions later,” Jason replied.

Bruce nodded, “Ready?”

The elevator binged as they reached the main level of the municipal courts. The doors opened and the room ahead of them was flooded with reporters. Jason numbly followed Bruce to the table where two of Bruce’s lawyers were also sitting.

Bruce cleared his throat into the mic and the place quieted down a little. “Thank you all for coming. I know this news came as a shock for everyone,” he began. “Those of you who know me personally know that losing Jason was the worst tragedy of my life. I am immeasurably happy that he’s returned to Gotham. He has chosen to come and tell you all what happened. Please hold your questions until he’s finished.”

Bruce nodded at Jason, who sat up a little straighter. “Thank you for coming,” he started. “As you all know, when I was 15, Bruce and I were in Ethiopia. I wandered off and I was kidnapped by terrorists.” There were murmurs in the crowd. “However, I didn’t die in the warehouse explosion. They had wanted my ransom but then watched on the news how the police had supposedly found my body. So instead they took me back to their base of operations to labour with their other prisoners.” 

That part of the story was somewhat true. Jason had, at one point, gone undercover with some terrorists and (while with the League) killed them and freed their prisoners. “On the way, they had given me something in order to keep me quiet, but they gave me too much and I had an amnesic episode. I didn’t remember who I was, or what I was doing there, so I, along with other prisoners, staged an escape. We were successful. I was free, but I still couldn’t remember who I was. A very kind woman took me in and helped me. Eventually, I made my way back to Gotham. I didn’t know why I had to come here, but I knew that I did. When I got here, bits and pieces started coming back, and I just… walked home. My muscle memory knew what to do. And here we are.”

Then the shouting started. “Mister Wayne!” They shouted, but Jason, who had just changed his name when being legally resurrected, had no idea if they knew that and were asking him questions, or if they were trying to get Bruce’s attention.

Bruce wrangled them into some sort of order, and then when a reporter looked right at Jason and called him Mister Wayne, Jason knew they were talking to him.

“Mister Wayne, can you tell us which terrorist organization took you?” SHe asked.

Jason smiled politely. “No, I’m afraid I can’t. It’s a security risk.”

“Mister Wayne! Do you expect us to believe that?” Vicky Vale was standing with a scowl on her face.

“What exactly don’t you believe?” Jason asked.

“Well, for starters, you have to admit your physical appearance is very different than it was when you went missing,” she pointed out.

Jason stuck to the story. “I was caught in a chemical explosion that affected the colour of my hair, along with my eyes, if that’s what you’re referring to.”

Vicky looked like she was about to ask something else, so Jason pointed to the very next reporter he could.

“Mister Wayne, how did you feel upon returning home to find that your father had adopted more children?”

“I felt great about it. I love those kids,” Jason answered honestly.

“Mister Wayne, er… Mister Bruce Wayne, does the reappearance of Mister Jason Wayne have anything to do with Mister Grayson’s return to Gotham?”

Bruce grinned at the reporter. “Well, I don’t know what that boy gets up to half the time, but yes, I do believe he transferred to Gotham to be closer to family.”

This went on for quite some time. There were some reporters that were quite intrusive, and Jason did well in fending them off politely.

By the time they left the press conference, it was dark. They rolled up to the manor and Tim was watching the report on the press conference on the news.

“Did it work, Timmy?” Jason asked as he undid the top button on his shirt.

“Oh yeah, they are eating it up. There’s already talk of you being the Sexiest Man Alive this year,” Stephanie reported from beside Tim.

Jason rolled his eyes, “I think I’ll leave that to Dick.”

Jason relaxed onto the couch. He looked over and saw Stephanie frowning at her phone. “What’s up, Blondie?” He asked.

She sighed, “I was hoping this guy from my bio class was going to ask me out, but now he’s just avoiding me like the plague or something.”

Jason grinned to himself.

…

That night, after everyone had come back from patrol, Jason had taken a shower and went downstairs to get a drink with just a towel.

He rounded the corner into the kitchen to see an extremely unfortunate sight.

“Oh my god!” Jason shouted as he realized what exactly he had walked into. Dick and Kori jumped apart, which did not help with hiding Dick’s nakedness.

“Jason!” Dick screeched with wide eyes. “This isn’t what it looks like!”

“Oh, ask him if he wants to join,” Starfire suggested.

“No!” Both Dick and Jason shouted in unison.

“What’s going on?” Bruce asked as he ran in. He froze. He looked at Jason, wearing nothing but a towel, Dick, who was completely nude, and Kori, who had no pants on and was sitting on the kitchen counter. Bruce swallowed, turned, and walked away.

Jason watched the man go incredulously. Then he turned to Dick. “You should be ashamed of yourself for desecrating Alfred’s kitchen with your shenanigans!”

Dick blushed even further, “Jason…” he whined.

“Yeah, I’m leaving, but I will  _ never _ forget what I saw here. Never.”

The next morning, Jason went downstairs to find Alfred just… standing in the kitchen, looking around strangely.

“What’s going on Alf?” Jason asked.

Dick came downstairs right behind Jason with poorly covered hickeys and watched the exchange with wide eyes.

“I’m not quite sure Master Jason, something just seems... _off_ ...about the kitchen this morning,” Alfred replied.

Jason turned to look at Dick. Dick silently begged him with his eyes not to say anything to Alfred. Jason rolled his eyes but did stay silent about the whole matter.

Alfred moved on, but he still maintained that something had gone on in the space. Bruce came downstairs next and paused for a moment when he saw Dick and Jason sitting in silence. He then swallowed and went to sit across from them.

“Boys,” he greeted. “I… realize I may not have handled the situation last night very well. I don’t know what you get up to in your spare time and that’s none of my business, but I just want you to both be safe and use protection and-”

“No!” Jason protested. “No, I had nothing to do with  _ that _ !” Dick suddenly looked very fearful.

“But you were-”

“I took a shower and came down for a glass of milk and walked in on Dick doing the devil's mambo with Kori on the island!” Jason shouted.

“Goodness me!” Alfred exclaimed.

Bruce frowned as Dick hid his face in his hands. Bruce looked almost… constipated? “Dick…?” He asked as if he was in pain. “But there are… there are so many bedrooms…” he ended in a whisper.

“I’m sorry, okay!” Dick yelled. “It was a mistake! It won’t happen again!”

“It better not,” Jason said.

Bruce just sighed. “Please, just keep it to the bedrooms, Dick.” He took a sip of coffee. “And use protection.”

“Yes, okay, I got it, please, let’s not talk about this anymore-”

“Tt. Talk of what?” Damian asked as he entered the kitchen.

“Dick was-” Jason started. Dick quickly clamped a hand over Jason’s mouth.

“I was doing nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

Damian narrowed his eyes, but he let it go.

Stephanie bounced down the stairs not long after, and Tim was following her doing a zombie-like shuffle.

Everyone was sitting at the table and started chatting about their days when Jason’s phone rang. It could be counted on one hand who knew Jason’s phone number.

“Zombie boy here, what can I do for ya?” Jason answered. He paled and frowned when whoever was on the other line spoke. “Just give me a minute.”

Jason stood and quickly left the room. Bruce was about to stand and follow him, but Alfred pressed down on his shoulder.

Jason returned about 15 minutes later.

He was frowning slightly, but he said nothing. No one else was saying anything either.

Dick was getting fidgety. “Jaybird, come on, you can’t just leave us hanging like that.”

“Yeah, tell us!” Stephanie agreed.

Jason sighed, “I just need to think about it.”

Bruce frowned even deeper. They didn’t have much time to dwell on it. Stephanie, Tim and Damian all had to go to school. Dick and Bruce had to go to work.

During the entire day, Bruce couldn’t focus on his work. All he could think about was that something was going on with Jason, and it was bad enough that he didn’t feel that he could share it.

He went home, preparing to demand answers, only to see that there was a strange woman in the house. She and Jason were arguing very loudly.

“How many times do I have to tell you! I don’t want it!” Jason shouted.

“And how many times do I have to tell  _ you _ that it isn’t your choice!” The woman shouted. “The rest of us have spoken, with you as the leader of the League, we can consolidate power!”

“I’m not the leader of the League. I gave it to Talia,” Jason replied sharply.

“To hold,” she pointed out. “You are the Demon Head as long as you are alive. And you will be the leader of the All Caste for the same.”

Bruce frowned as he listened in.

“She was your mother. You take it!”

“She wanted you!” The woman screamed back. “She  _ adored  _ you! She thought you were the most amazing human she’s ever met. Before she died, when  _ I _ was at her side, all she talked about was  _ you _ !” She spat. “How dare you rebuke her final wish!”

Jason sighed. “I’m sorry, Essence, but the answer is no.”

Bruce decided to make his presence known.

“Jason, what’s going on?”

Jason rubbed his face. “Dad, this is Essence. Essence, this is-”

“I  _ know _ who this is,” she replied venomously. “It is so rare that a person’s worst memory and best memory are about the same person. I wouldn’t have forgotten.”

Bruce was taken aback by that, Jason could tell.

“Part of the All Caste’s final trial is giving up your best and worst memory before completing a gauntlet so-”

“-so you cannot use either to fuel you,” Essence finished. She looked at Jason. “You’re the only one who has ever let them keep the good one.”

Bruce blinked. There was a memory that Jason had of him, that was the best memory of Jason’s life, and Jason couldn’t remember it?

“Well, at the time, I thought I wouldn’t need it,” Jason said. “Essence. I’m sorry about Ducra. I wish someone had told me she was unwell earlier, I could have cleared everything up while she was alive. But either way… I feel I made it quite clear I wasn’t going back.” Jason gave Essence a pointed look.

“I have already apologized for attempting to kill you. I admit I was hurt that you were going to end things between us, and I was jealous of my mother’s attentions on you. I was wrong to accuse you of having an evil soul. But please, Jason-” she looked right into his eyes “-if you don’t return, at least until you can find an heir, the All Caste will fall apart.” She took a breath. “You know that it’s the only thing we have. There is no place for us in the world.”

Jason stared back into her inky-black eyes. He nodded ever so slightly. Essence closed her eyes and took a step toward him so that she was leaning on his chest. Jason hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

Essence stayed for dinner, which was a little strange. It was clear Bruce did not like her. Damian also seemed to want to kill her. On the other hand, Stephanie and Dick thought she was pretty cool. Tim, the only person to who Jason had mentioned his relationship with Essence, was on the fence.

She stayed the night but insisted on sleeping in one of the trees outside.

In the morning, Bruce came downstairs to see that Jason was standing in the foyer with a bag.

“Jay…” Bruce breathed.

“Dad, I have to go. She’s right. There are people who need the All Caste to exist, I have to find someone to take over. But I  _ will _ be back soon. I promise.”

Bruce swallowed the lump in his throat. “I just got you back, chum.”

Jason smiled a little. “I know. I’m sorry. But I swear, I  _ swear _ I won’t be gone for long.”

Bruce nodded and hugged his boy tightly. “You have to come back, Jason.”

“I will. And you have to promise that they’re not going to get hurt while I’m gone,” Jason said in response.

Bruce was silent for a while. “I promise.”

They parted reluctantly. “Tell the kids I’ll miss them, and that I’ll be back soon.”

“I will.”

Jason smiled at Bruce. “Love you, dad.” Bruce’s eyes widened in shock. “I’ll get that memory back while I’m at it.”

Bruce nodded his head shakily. He wiped a tear from his cheek. “I love you too, Jaylad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!
> 
> A massive shout out to everyone who has stayed with this and who has commented! That's probably the number one reason how I felt motivated enough to finish this, and in such a timely manner too.
> 
> Tomorrow I'll be posting a bunch of deleted scenes from this story and let me tell you, they are juicy, so make sure you stay tuned for that!
> 
> If you enjoyed this, give some of my other stories a read! See what you think!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deleted Scenes!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a forewarning. I haven't run this through Grammarly like I usually do with my chapters, so there are going to be copious amounts of errors, but I figure that that's okay because it's not really the story, you know?
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all like!

**Deleted Scene Number One: 'Gravediggers'**

**This scene was going to take place right after Bruce figures out Jason's identity. I cut it because I didn't how it ended and also the general mood of it was... off somehow. I also knew I wanted a confrontation with the Joker and didn't know how I was going to transition into that.**

**...**

That was impossible. Bruce leapt out of his chair and began tearing through the cave. Dick, who had heard the noise from upstairs, came down to investigate.

“B… what the hell are you doing down here?” Dick asked with concern.

“Where do we keep shovels?” Bruce asked.

Dick frowned. “Probably with Alfred’s gardening stuff in the shed.”

Bruce moved upstairs quickly, Dick followed at a small distance. He was not sure what to make of this, not at all.

“What do you need a shovel for?” Dick asked.

“Grab one too, you’re coming with me,” Bruce grunted.

“B, what is going on? Were you dosed with something?”

“No.” Dick was handed a shovel and then he was following Bruce back down to the cave. A domino mask was shoved into his hands, which he put on.

Bruce moved toward the Batmobile. “Maybe I should drive?”

“No.”

Bruce drove the Batmobile like a man possessed on a good day, so he was driving like there was a rocketship chasing after them that night.

Dick was bracing himself for their imminent death.

But then they screeched up to a graveyard. One both of them sadly knew very well.

“B… what are we doing here?” Dick asked.

Bruce didn’t respond, he just marched forward. Dick pulled out a communicator.

“Alfred? Something’s wrong with Bruce. Can you send some backup over to the Old Gotham graveyard?”

“What seems to be the matter?” Alfred asked with concern.

“Well, he grabbed a bunch of shovels and me and now we’re at the graveyard and he won’t explain what’s going on. And he’s-” Dick froze as he caught up to Bruce and saw what he was doing. “Jesus, he’s trying to dig up Jason’s grave. Don’t send the kids. I’ll… I’ll try and figure this out.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I would rather not leave that responsibility fully to you. Master Bruce can be… a handful when he gets into these states.”

“I don’t want them to see their dad like this, Alfred,” Dick whispered. “Just- I promise I’ll call if anything else happens.”

Alfred sighed. “Very well. Do be careful, Master Richard.”

Dick moved toward Bruce. “B… you have thirty seconds to tell me what’s going on before I give you a sedative and drag you back to the cave.”

Bruce didn’t stop digging like a maniac, but between ragged breaths, he did explain the situation.

“Ghost… is… Jason…”

“Bruce,” Dick said, trying to get his attention. It didn’t work. “B?” Nothing. “Dad!”

That got Bruce’s attention. He looked up at Dick, desperation clear as day, even with the cowl on. “Please, Dick. Please help me. I need to know.”

Dick stared at Bruce, and then gripped the shovel. “Okay, okay, let’s- let’s see. But you have to promise me that if we get to the bottom and… and everything’s still… as it was… you have to promise me you’re going to step back and let me make sure.”

Bruce nodded minutely. Then they both got digging.

About half an hour later, Dick’s shovel hit wood.

“Stop.”

Both men froze. Dick bent down and brushed some off the top off the coffin. He followed the middle of the box until- his hand hit something hard that was not the coffin. Dick grabbed it and pulled. It was a belt.

Dick’s eyes snapped to Bruce’s. They started digging frantically with their hands.

There was a jagged hole. Clear signs that someone had broken  _ out _ . There was dried blood on the edges of the wood, there were ripped off fingernails, and the belt…

“He’s alive,” Bruce breathed. “He’s alive.”

Dick’s hands covered his mouth and he began to cry. Bruce hugged him.

There they were, crying in Jason’s empty grave.

“We gotta find him,” Dick cried. “Where has he been?”

“He’s Ghost,” Bruce replied.

“What?” Dick gasped. “Oh my god… oh my god…”

“Dick, calm down, deep breaths,” Bruce said. “We’ll find him tomorrow, he’s never out this… early?”

Dick nodded. They filled in the grave and Bruce drove home, remarkably calmer.

* * *

**Deleted Scene Number Two: 'Bruce & Talia'**

**This scene is a conversation that Bruce and Talia have after Bruce 'discovers' that Ghost is Damian's brother Albari and believes that he's another son Talia hid from him. I liked this, but I couldn't really find a good spot to fit it in so... shrug.**

**...**

“Talia.”

“Beloved.”

They were staring at each other. “Was he mine?” Bruce asked.

Talia frowned and cocked her head. “Who? Damian? I thought we were past this.”

“Not Damian, Albari,” Bruce said a little harsher than was necessary.

Talia flinched, “Damian told you about him?”

“Yes.”

Talia looked down, “He wasn’t  _ yours _ , he was  **_mine_ ** .”

Rage bubbled in Bruce’s throat. “And you were never going to tell me?!” He yelled. Talia started to shake and some of the rage bled out of Bruce’s shoulders. “How could you?” He whispered.

“I…” Talia began. She looked like she was thinking about how to say something “No one knew about him. Ever. If my father knew he belonged to you… he would have met a far worse fate than he did.”

Bruce sat down on the couch, “Tell me about him.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Talia sat next to him. “He was… the kindest person I’ve ever met. He loved Damian so much. I… I know I didn’t always make the right choices with Damian, but I was- I was a  _ good _ mother to Albari. He made it easy. He was so strong and he was  _ hardened _ . I never had to worry about the world breaking him, because it never would have scratched the surface. But Damian was so… so soft and loving and- and Albari just wanted to keep him that way.” Talia wiped her eyes. “He almost beat my father. He was- he was so close.” 

Talia cried into her hands and in a rare display of affection, Bruce wrapped an arm around her.

“I know how it feels, Talia. I understand,” Bruce whispered to her.

“He was right in front of me, I could have done something. I was just so afraid that if something happened to me, then Damian would be all alone.”

They sat there for a long time as Talia collected herself.

“Damian said he didn’t want to be revived,” Bruce said quietly.

“He… he had a very bad reaction to the Lazarus Pit and he made me promise him I would never use it on him again.”

“Did you?”

Talia was silent.

“Talia… is Albari, Ghost?”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“How?” Bruce asked, beginning to get frustrated again.

“It’s not my secret to tell, Bruce. I’ve betrayed him too many times already.”

Bruce got up and stormed out. Was anything Talia just said even real? Or was she just manipulating him again.

* * *

**Deleted Scene Number Three: ' Barbara'**

**This was going to be the chapter after Jason reconciled somewhat with Bruce and the gang. I deleted it because I swore to myself when I started writing this that it wouldn't mutate into a romance. If you noticed that Barbara was not involved much in this story, it's because I deleted this scene, along with a few smaller ones, that featured Barbara heavily. Also, I didn't like how much of a jerk I made Nightwing in this, so here it is, a deletion.**

**...**

So everyone was all under one roof. Great! Right?

Sort of. Jason was very open about his PTSD and he had a lot of triggers that seemed to vary from day to day. Often, if he was upset by something, he would just disappear and show back up later that day or the next morning and wouldn’t speak a word of it to anyone. 

Bruce, who also definitely had PTSD and also had most of his nightmares end in him holding onto Jason’s corpse, found this difficult to cope with.

Dick also had problems with boundaries. He would often approach Jason at just the wrong time and get snapped at, which of course made him angry and it started a whole cycle.

Alfred was a good mediator. He was easily Jason’s confidant, as well as Bruce’s, so some communication through osmosis was present there.

Then, of course, there was a strange tension going three ways between Dick and Jason and Bruce about the younger kids. Dick was used to be the doting brother, the one they would come to when they needed to talk to someone that wasn’t Bruce. And that had been a source of tension between Dick and Bruce before Jason showed up. Now Jason was in the equation. They seemed to tell Jason things that they would have gone to Bruce about  _ and _ the things they would have gone to Dick about.

For example, when Stephanie was going on a date with a guy from her class and she needed a ride? Went straight to Jason. When Tim was drowning in homework due to extreme procrastination? Jason was the answer, they stayed up all night, but they finished. When Damian was being bullied at school (which neither Bruce or Dick knew about at all)? Jason 'handled it’, whatever that meant.

It all came to a head when a friendly spar between Dick and Jason turned a little less friendly.

Jason was still a cocky little shit, he liked to taunt his opponents when he could. Nothing had really changed from when Dick used to spar with Jason when they were much younger. Except for the fact that he kept losing.

“Come on, getting old already?” Jason teased.

Dick attempted a roundhouse kick but Jason dodged like it was nothing.

Tim had wandered down at some point and was now just watching them fight. Steph came down as well. After twenty minutes, Damian came down too.

Jason never sparred with them and Dick often did, so of course they were cheering for Jason to win, because he wasn’t the one who kicked their butts on the regular.

Jason landed an unexpected kick-flip combo that nearly had Dick stumble off the mats and lose.

“Good one Jay!” Steph yelled.

Jason didn’t relent, he kept pushing and attacking all of Dick’s weak points. It had been a long time since someone had challenged him like this. Even during his practice with Bruce, the man never came at him with the intensity that Jason was. Except it was even worse, because it looked like Jason was having  _ fun _ . 

“Okay, okay,” Jason began as he allowed Dick to fall back into a good stance. “How about I close my eyes?” Jason shut his eyes. And Dick just wanted to punch him in the face, but he restrained himself. He tried to kick out Jason’s legs instead. Jason jumped right in time. A series of oohs came from the peanut gallery. Dick swung for a punch to the chest. Jason grabbed his arm mid swing and countered by swiping Dick’s legs out.

“How are you doing that?!” Steph exclaimed excitedly.

“As part of my training in the All Caste-” Jason dodged Dick’s left swing. “-I had to learn to sense things in the dark.” Jason countered with an elbow to the sternum that knocked the wind out of Dick. And then suddenly Jason was on the offensive again. But he had his eyes closed.

Dick was once again knocked to the ground. And this time, Jason opened his eyes and chuckled a little as he offered his hand to help Dick get up.

Dick, filled with rage, took Jason’s hand and then pulled up into a right hook that landed across Jason’s jaw. Then he kicked Jason in the abdomen, sending the man falling to his back.

Dick stood over Jason now and Jason looked up at him and he looked… he was upset. Of course he was.

“What the hell, Dick?” Tim demanded from the side. The boy moved over to Jason. Jason got up and spit out a mouthful of blood.

“It’s fine, Timmy.” Jason walked off and Tim looked at Dick incredulously before following Jason out of the cave. Damian also left, leaving just Stephanie behind.

“Dude,” Stephanie started. “Are you okay?”

Dick was just staring at the blood on the floor. “I’m an asshole. Nothing new.”

“I mean… kinda new,” Steph said. “You never snap like that when you’re going with Tim and I. Even that one time when Damian jumped you with a knife, you still kept everything under control.”

Dick looked away. “I just lost my temper. I should- I need to go apologize.”

“Maybe you should give him some space,” Stephanie suggested. She bit her cheek, but eventually just decided to say whatever it was that she clearly thought she shouldn’t. “You know, if one day,  _ I _ was somehow even close to your level, I’d probably try to show off too. You beat us all the time and that’s good and fun, but I’d be lying if I said that we all probably didn’t wish that one day we’d be able to knock you on your ass. Hence why we were cheering for him. He probably just… felt the same, I guess? I mean, everyone always compared the two of you, right? So I bet it was a little personal for him too.” 

Dick immediately felt guilty. Of course they didn’t just like Jason better, they just… wanted to see their slavedriver, so to speak, to get his ass handed to him for once. If Jason had been beating Bruce, Dick would’ve done the same thing.

Jason words from their confrontation came back to him again, about Barbara and the Titans. “Actually, that’s…” Dick’s eyes lit up with a plan. “That helped, thanks Stephanie.”

Stephanie looked at him strangely as he bounded up the manor stairs.

He entered the kitchen and saw that Jason was holding a bag of peas to his face and was chatting idly to Alfred.

He turned to look at Dick as he entered. “Jason, I’m really sorry. I don’t know what got into me- well, I do, but I’m going to make it up to you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dick,” Jason said.

“No really, that wasn’t cool. Anyway, I’ll be back later!” Dick called as he ran off.

His first stop, Titans Tower.

Most of the team was hanging out there. It was the weekend, so they were just playing video games and not doing anything extremely important.

He gathered everyone up into the conference room. “Okay, can everyone who knew the Robin after me raise their hands?”

Those who knew Dick well knew that Jason was a sore subject, so they looked surprised, but raised their hands anyway. Only a few of the newer members hadn’t been around back then.

“Okay, if you didn’t, you can go.”

“Does this have to do with a mission?” Wally asked.

“No,” Dick said. His face was serious, so the team was confused.

“Is something wrong?” Donna Troy asked.

Dick looked at everyone who was in the room. Roy Harper, Kori Anders, Conner Kent, Wallace West, Raven, Garfield Logan and Donna.

“Yes. I heard something a few days ago and I need to know if it’s true or not.” Everyone nodded. “Did any of you, at any point, tell Jason Todd that he either didn’t deserve to be Robin, or that he was never going to live up to me?”

The room was silent except for Roy and Starfire. “What?” Roy asked. “Seriously? Who the fuck would say that to a kid, I’m sure none of us-” he stopped as he saw everyone else’s guilty faces.

“That is shameful,” Starfire said. “I was upset on your behalf, of course,” she said to Dick. “But I never would have said anything.”

Dick looked livid. He cursed under his breath. “I hoped he had been… I don’t know, exaggerating.”

“Who could have possibly told you that?” Conner asked.

“Jason is alive.”

The entire room blinked. “How?” Donna asked.

“It’s a long story, but he’s back.” Dick’s mouth twitched. “I want to bring him here sometime, we can all train together, but I swear to god if anyone makes any comment like that to him ever again, you’re off the team. Understood?”

Raven was the first to respond. “Of course.”

Everyone else let out a chorus of yes’s.

Starfire waited for everyone else to leave before placing her hands gently on Dick’s shoulders. “I was starting to get worried that you were avoiding me, but I understand now. Take all teh time you need to reconnect with your brother. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Thanks Kori,” Dick breathed. Kori pecked his cheek.

Dick left, but he didn’t head back to the manor. Instead he headed to the clocktower.

He used his access codes to get in. He wasn’t totally sure that they’d work since he hadn’t come there alone since he and Barbara had broken up.

“Hey Babs, listen-”

“Richard. Grayson.” Her eyes were very angry but her words were eerily neutral. “What has been going on? Bruce won’t speak to me. Stephanie and Tim have been skirting around me like I have a disease. And you.” She glared at him. “You have been completely ignoring me. What is going on.”

Dick swallowed. “There’s no easy way to say it. So I’m just gonna… Jason is alive, and he’s Ghost.”

Barbara blinked, “What.”

“Talia brought him back with a Lazarus pit and he’s been with Damian and the League, until he came here. It’s- it’s a really long story. But that’s not why I came.”

“Then why did you decide to grace me with your presence?” She asked angrily.

“Because I need to know what you said to Jason the first time you met him.”

Barbara’s face darkened. “I said things I regret. That I’ll always regret.”

“Why the hell would you tell a little kid that he was never going to live up to everyone’s expectations?!” Dick accused.

“Oh I don’t know! Maybe because all you ever fucking complained about was Bruce and Jason this, and Bruce and Jason that! You were being a fucking child, and I was stupid enough to think you were right! I hope Starfire doesn’t take you as seriously as I did,” she spat.

“Jesus, Barb.” Dick clenched and unclenched his fist. “We’re still on this?”

Her nose twitched. “Well, I’ll like to see how much your heart shatters when Kori cheats on you with Roy.”

Dick took a deep breath. “She wouldn’t do that.”

“No?”

“No.”

“We’ll see.”

“You know, I came here because-”

“Let me guess, you came here because Jason’s upset with you, because you’ve always been an asshole to him and that hasn’t changed, so you thought you’d go on a little crusade to find all the bad guys who hurt his feelings when he was little to make up for it?” Her gaze was colder than Mr. Freeze's ice rays. “Well newsflash Boy Blunder, all of us, your Titans friends, me? We only did that because we cared about you and you  _ hated _ him. So if you’re looking for a finger to blame, you’ll get out of my apartment and find a fucking mirror.”

Dick’s nostrils flared. “You know, I used to feel bad that you were trapped in this tower like a hermit, but now I get it.”

“Get. Out.”

“With pleasure.”

Dick went straight back to the manor.

“Dick, where have you been all day?” Bruce asked.

“Listen if you’re going to lecture me on punching Jason, I don’t need to hear it right now,” Dick said.

Bruce blinked, “What? You punched Jason?”

“Why didn’t you tell Barbara about what happened?” Dick asked.

Bruce was very confused. “Well, I’ve been a little busy.”

“Bullshit.”

Bruce sighed. “This has brought up… the memories of her influence on some of my worse decisions, one of which lead to me turning my back on being a father to Jason. So, yes, I have been avoiding her. I’m sorry you had to tell her.”

“Tell who what?” Jason asked from behind Dick.

“I was just at the Clocktower and Barbara told me that no one had told her you were alive.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “Huh, well, that seems like an oversight.” Bruce nodded slightly. “I think I’ll go see her.”

Dick was about to protest. “Great idea, Master Jason,” Alfred said from behind Bruce.

Was no conversation in the manor private? Dick thought.

“Use my access code,” Dick said. He texted the number to Jason.

“Alright, might not make it back in time for patrol,” Jason said. “Don’t wait up, but if there’s a problem, call me.”

“Will do, Jaylad,” Bruce spoke.

Jason arrived at the Clocktower and punched in the code that Dick had given him.

Barbara, who was typing furiously at the computer system, saw Dick’s access code being used and even more rage built up. She turned around, expecting to see Dick and ready to give him a piece of her mind. Instead she saw a man she barely recognized.

“Hey Barbie, nice place you got here,” Jason commented.

Barbara watched him with fascination. “Jason?”

“The one and only,” he replied with a grin. Barbara examined him. He was far taller and broader than he had any right being, seeing as he was very malnourished as a child. She couldn’t deny that there was something very attractive in the way he held himself. As if he was holding up something unbearably heavy… for any other man.

“Did Dick send you here?” She asked, looking back to her computer.

“Nah, I thought I’d come talk to you since no one decided to let you in on the loop.”

“Well, thanks for that.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you have a problem with me or something?”

“No.” Jason sighed and just continued to inspect her place. “You aren’t going to ask me what’s going on with the wheelchair?”

“I knew already. Saw it on the news.”

Barbara levelled her gaze at him. “If you’re here to get pissed off at me for things I said years ago then-”

Jason scoffed. “Is that what Dick was doing? Jesus, he has some problems.”

“Well, I did deserve it. Not from him, but if you have some choice words for me, I’ll let you.”

“Just one thing. Not really an accusation, just a question. What did you mean when you told Bruce that I had a darkness inside me?”

Barbara watched him for a moment. “I always knew you did. You don’t go through a life such as yours without getting damaged along the way. I thought you were liable to turn on us. I thought you were capable of becoming a villain that Batman couldn’t beat. I warned Bruce accordingly.”

“And has your opinion changed?” Jason asked with a challenging eyebrow.

“...I should have kept those thoughts to myself when he asked. If I could go back and change it- there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t blame myself for what happened.” Jason sat down on the chair to her side. “I was wrong about one thing, though.”

“And what’s that?”

Barbara turned so she and Jason were facing each other. “I made it seem that darkness and evil were the same thing, but I can tell that they aren’t.”

“But you still think that I’m a threat?”

“You are. Even more so now,” Barbara replied honestly.

“You’re kind of a stone cold bitch now, aren’t you?”

They were staring at each other, and before she really knew what she was doing, she was gripping the front of Jason’s shirt and she was kissing him.

His knees bumped into hers as she slid closer to him. Jason was a little surprised at first, but he did reciprocate. He reciprocated very well.

Pretty soon, Barbara was undoing the buttons on her shirt and then moving onto the buckle on Jason’s belt.

“Can I pick you up?” Jason asked between heated kisses.

“The bedroom is-” Jason lifted her easily. “-the first door on the left.”

Jason did not make it back to the manor that night.

…

Jason and Barbara’s friends with benefits situation lasted quite some time before anyone found out about it. Unfortunately, the person who did was Dick.

The verbal argument that ensued at the manor was loud enough that Bruce claimed to have heard it from the cave.

“Boys!” Bruce snapped as he rounded the corner. “What is going on?”

“Jason’s been sleeping with Barbara!” Dick shouted.

Bruce looked very confused and he looked to Jason, but then the younger man spoke.

“And it’s none of your fucking business. The two of you aren’t together, so why the hell do you care?” Jason snapped.

Bruce felt incredibly awkward. “Jason, Dick and Barbara were in a serious relationship for a long time. It’s… only natural that he might still… harbour feelings for her and-”

“No, I don’t  _ harbour feelings _ for Barbara anymore, okay?” Dick told Bruce. “I just can’t believe that you didn’t think that might not have been appropriate!”

Jason threw up his hands. “Dick, if I avoided every woman you’ve had sex with, then I’d have like, three people to choose from,” Jason retored. “And I still don’t understand why you’re so pissed.”

“Because clearly you’re doing this to mess with me, and I don’t think that’s fair to anyone!” Dick yelled.

“Is that clear?” Jason questioned. “I’m doing this because of the excellent sex, Dick. Not to fuck with you.”

Bruce tried to talk, but the two boys continued to yell over each other.

“Oh right, like I believe that. The sex with someone with a spinal cord injury isn’t  _ excellent _ , it’s barely even good.”

Jason scoffed, “Well fuck me, I see why she hates you with a burning passion. Maybe the sex wasn’t good for you, asshole, but maybe if you put a little effort into figuring out what  _ she _ liked then-”

“Oh please! This isn’t about that! And of course I put in effort, she never-”

“Okay, I don’t believe you. This is all about her injury to you, isn’t it? Is that why you-”

“It’s not about the injury, it’s about how she changed after and-”

“Of course she changed, Dickhead! Her whole life flipped on her! Of all people, I’d think you’d get that and-”

“ENOUGH!!” Bruce bellowed. Both of them froze. “The two of you are acting like children.” Bruce turned to Dick first. “Jason is right. What he and Barbara get up to on their own time is their own business. Personally, I’m very disappointed in how you just revealed you perceive Barbara and I’m very happy she wasn’t here to hear that. And if you really think that Jason is only doing this to hurt you somehow, then why didn’t he tell you?” Dick was silent. 

“And Jason,” Bruce said, turning to his other son. “You weren’t there when Barbara dealt with the fallout of her injury. You didn’t see her become the person she is now, so I don’t think you can truly appreciate the differences between her personality back then and her personality now. The end of their relationship was very difficult for both of them, and I would appreciate it not being brought up so thoughtlessly.” Jason looked down. “Now, I do not want to have this discussion again, so I’m going to wait here until this is resolved.”

Jason gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would have upset you.”

“I… maybe I do still… have feelings for her,” Dick admitted. “Not who she is now, but who she was before and it’s-it’s really hard to… figure that out.”

Jason softened and squeezed Dick’s shoulder. “Well, shit’s complicated. That’s okay.”

Dick smiled a little and clapped Jason’s shoulder. They both left, going off to the cave to train with the kids.

Bruce sighed deeply and went into the kitchen. “Did you hear any of that?” He asked Alfred.

“Indeed I did, Master Bruce. You handled it well, I believe,” Alfred replied as he wiped down the countertops.

“I did not expect that to be an issue,” Bruce confessed. “I almost told Jason he was too young to be having sex. I- I’m always forgetting that he’s an adult now.”

Alfred smiled a little, “Indeed. I often feel that way as well, Master Bruce.”

Bruce looked at Alfred quizzically, “Is it strange that I almost feel proud of him?”

Alfred almost laughed, “Perhaps, but it is an unusual situation.”

* * *

**Deleted Scene Number Four: 'Alternate Ending #1'**

**This was from one of my very early versions of this story, back when I thought it was only going to be seven chapters long. I cut it because, A) I wanted more conflict between Ra's and Jason and the Joker and Jason, and B) Jason just made up with everyone way too quickly here.**

**...**

It took a month for Ghost to reappear. It was not under ideal circumstances. Tim had been injured and he was fighting off a street gang. It wasn’t going extremely well, and he was about to radio in for backup when Ghost appeared and finished off the men for him. Unfortunately, there was one left, and he was pointing a gun at Tim. He was nervous, had his finger on the trigger.

Ghost took a chance, he switched his uniform to black, and that caused the man to swing the gun over to him and shoot. Ghost charged him and took him down. He walked over to him a little strangely, and then it hit Tim, Ghost got shot.

“Hey birdy, you alright?” He asked.

“I… I’m fine, I think I might have broken my arm. Did you- did you get shot?”

“Yeah, it’s not too bad though.” Ghost looked away from Tim in a contemplative way. “Think you can make it back to the cave?”

“Batman’s coming, I’ll be okay,” Tim said. He swallowed as Ghost looked like he was about to pass out. “Are you… he can help you too.”

Ghost’s face wasn’t visible, but Tim could tell he had tensed up. “Go home birdy, I’ll be fine.” He grappled up to the rooftop and Tim lost sight of him. Tim turned his comms on and heard the desperate voices of his family trying to get to his location.

“Hey,” Tim croaked painfully.

“Red Robin, report!” Bruce snapped.

“I broke my arm, but I’m fine. Ghost showed up just in time to stop me from getting shot, but he took the bullet, B. And then he ran off. He didn’t look too good,” Tim reported.

Just as he finished, the Batmobile roared into the mouth of the alley and Bruce jumped out. “Tim,” he started quietly. “Are you okay?”

“I have a concussion too, I think,” he admitted. Bruce nodded and picked him up. “I can walk,” he protested.

Bruce put him in the Batmobile, “Wait here. I’m going after Ghost.” He turned away, but then looked back. “Don’t scare me like that again.” Tim nodded sheepishly as the doors closed.

Bruce grappled up to the roof and clearly saw a blood trail to the next roof over where there was a figure bent over.

He moved quickly and quietly.

“Jason?” He asked when he was closer to Ghost.

The man turned his head, both hands still putting pressure on his wound. “I think you’ve confused me with someone else.” It was a weak deflection.

“No, I know my son. I know he protected his family fiercely, I know he never liked to tell me about his injuries either.” Bruce swallowed and went to stand beside him.

“He sounds like a great kid,” Ghost gritted.

“He was, he  _ is _ .” There was a moment of silence, “Will you let me take you home?”

Ghost shifted, looking a little less in pain than before, and Bruce was suddenly confused. “That’s not my home.”

“It is, it can be again.”

The man stood to his full height now. He looked less like he had just gotten shot, and more like he had gotten a few broken ribs. He was the same height as Bruce.

“You grew.” Ghost had nothing to say to that. “Red Robin said you got shot.”

Ghost turned to leave. Bruce grabbed his shoulder. Lightening fast, Ghost had Batman’s arm in a lock.

“Don’t touch me,” he nearly snarled. He shoved Bruce back and leapt over a rooftop, disappearing into the dark.

Bruce went after him.

He chased Jason through Crime Alley, through what felt like the entire city, when they were done, Bruce was exhausted, Jason seemed in better shape, but tired too.

“Leave me alone, old man. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry your son’s dead. I’m not him,” Ghost told him between breaths.

“Only my son moved like that, only my son called me old man,” Bruce said. “Whatever I did, whatever I said to make you stay away, I’m sorry, please, Jason. Please let me try to fix it. I miss you. I- losing you, it-” Bruce swallowed. “I understand now. I understand why my father pushed me behind him in that alley all those years ago. If I could have taken your place, if I could have died instead, I would have. I… wish I had. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry I wasn’t fast enough, I was- I was right there.” Ghost was deliberating. “Jason…  _ please _ .”

He didn’t know if it was the tone in Bruce’s voice, or his words that had hit something in Ghost, but he started taking off his mask.

The first thing Bruce noticed about his son was his hair. It was shock white. Then, his eyes, that glowed neon green in the night. If Bruce had been a weaker man, he would have been unnerved.

But it was his son. He was Jason. Older, painfully older, but still his little boy.

“Jaylad,” Bruce breathed. He was having a hard time containing himself. He pulled back his own cowl. His eyes were tearing up, Jason was looking at him suspiciously.

“Bruce.”

He took a step forward and Jason took a step back.

Bruce had no idea what to say, no idea what to do. So he reverted to the case. Work it like a case. No, don’t. He’s not a case, he’s your son. But what happened? We need answers. No. We need to tell him how we  _ feel _ .

“Are you hurt?” Bruce settled on when his brain couldn’t come to a consensus.

“No.”

“Tim said you got shot.”

“I’m fine now. I heal quick.”

Bruce was once again confused. There was no handbook, what to do when your dead son comes back and is mad at you and you don’t know why.

“Why didn’t you come back to me? To Alfred?” Bruce asked.

Jason stared at him with narrowed eyes. “I was going to. I was in Gotham, and then I saw Robin.” Jason clenched and then unclenched his fist. “How could you?” He nearly whispered. “I had barely been gone for six months, I had been  _ murdered _ in that suit. And you thought it would be a good idea to honor my legacy by putting another little kid in there who didn’t know any better so he could get killed too?”

Bruce swallowed. “Tim came to me, sort of blackmailed me into training him and-”

“Seriously?” Jason asked incredulously. Angrily. Bruce had just gotten him back and he’d already upset Jason. “He was what? Nine? Ten? When he came to you? You’re telling me that you couldn’t have done the right thing and shut that down?”

“He was all alone. He used to follow us on patrol. He would sneak out and take pictures. He said he would follow me around until I said yes. I thought I was protecting him,” Bruce said.

“Well you were wrong. Look at how many times I’ve come in to save him, Bruce,” Jason spat. “They’re not safe. Not even close. Tim, I could forgive you for Tim. But Damian?” Jason was almost shaking at that point. “My little brother, your son. When I saw him in that suit the first time, I wanted to kill you.” Jason took a step forward. “How dare you put him in danger like that? You think he wasn’t always in danger at the League? Why the hell would you take a kid that traumatized and put him in a role that’s only ever ruined the people who took it?”

This Jason was a far cry from the one who had ecstatically announced to Bruce that being Robin gave him magic.

“He needed somewhere to channel his anger. He needed a chance to save people, instead of killing them.”

Jason looked up at the sky and a more peaceful expression crossed over his face. “I always wanted to go to Princeton. You remember that?”

“Of course I remember. I still have all those brochures,” Bruce said with the hint of a smile. He was making progress.

“I wanted to get an English degree, I wanted to be a teacher, or a professor, I wasn’t sure.” Jason levelled his gaze at Bruce. “The Joker stole that from me. And you never paid him back.” Bruce was wrong. “He took me away from you, he took your  _ son _ away from you, and you didn’t even avenge me.” Jason looked like he was about to cry. Bruce could count on one hand the number of times he had seen Jason cry as a younger boy.

“I tried,” Bruce confessed softly, also at the brink of tears. “I tried to kill him, I almost did. Clark stopped me. And Dick- Dick did kill him, but I looked at him, at how his hands started shaking, and I knew he couldn’t live with that, so I had to step in, but Jay, if it had been anyone else-” Bruce’s voice cut off.

Jason looked like he didn’t know what to think. “But you changed your mind, right? You forgot about me and fixing what happened.”

“I’ve never forgotten. Every time I see that clown I want to drag him off somewhere, take weeks, make it slow, break him. But then I see how hard Jim is working to get the new, up-and-coming force to accept us, and I see how worried Tim gets when I’m toeing the line, and I remember how Dick’s hands shook, and I remember that I need to set an example for Damian and I- I can’t do it.” Bruce looked at Jason desperately. “I’m sorry.”

Jason looked at Bruce, completely unreadable. “Well, nobody’s perfect.” Jason took a step toward Bruce and the older man couldn’t help himself. He closed the gap and hugged his son.

They were both crying, both apologizing. It was touching and it was the reunion that Jason had been dreaming about for years.

“I missed you,” Jason whispered. “I missed you so much, all these years I never forgot. I just thought you wouldn’t want me anymore. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“I missed you too, Jaylad. My son. Don’t be sorry, I’m not. I have my son back. I have my little boy back.”

Jason chuckled deeply and pulled back from Bruce. “Not so little anymore, I’m taller than you.”

Bruce scoffed and smiled back. “In your dreams, Jaylad. You’re an inch down.” Jason shook his head and laughed. “Will you come home?” Jason nodded smally and Bruce squeezed his shoulder. “Alfred’ll be- he’ll be so happy to see you.”

“God I missed his food,” Jason said with a grin.

They spent the entire grapple home (since Bruce had sent the Batmobile back to the cave on autopilot with an injured Tim in it) talking about what food Jason missed the most from Alfred.

They walked into the cave laughing and talking like nothing ever happened, and then they saw the lineup. There was a crowd of people in the cave. At the forefront was Damian, who was the first to approach Jason.

“Brother, it’s good to see you again,” Damian said formally, as usual.

Jason grinned and hugged the boy.

“Tt.  _ Ahki _ …” Damian groaned.

Jason let go of him and ruffled his hair. Dick couldn’t contain himself much longer. “Little Wing!” He cried as he launched himself at Jason.

Jason hugged him back, but he had stiffened. Dick frowned a little and let him go, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. He looked at Jason questioningly, but the man moved past him and looked at the kids standing to the side. Tim had a cast on his arm, and Stephanie kept looking anywhere but Jason’s eyes.

“So, you’re my replacement, hey?” Jason asked Tim.

Tim’s eyes widened, “Well, I mean no- I mean yes, technically, but-”

Jason started laughing, “Don’t worry about it, kid. You did really good. You were much more of a detective than I was, and a pretty good fighter too. You did Robin proud, thanks.” Tim looked like he was about to explode. “I also hear you were a bit of a stalker?”

Tim’s face went completely red in one second. “Ohmygodbruceyouweregoneforlikeanhourhowdidyouhavetimetotellhimaboutthat!”

Bruce and Jason both laughed and everyone froze and stared at bruce.

He blinked. “What?”

Dick smiled bittersweetly, “You haven’t laughed like that in a long time.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Drama queen. Anyways,” he turned to Stephanie. “Young lady. What were you thinking, trying to take on Black Mask alone?” He asked.

Stephanie went through a range of emotions. Terror to confusion to anger and back to confusion.

“What.”

“You need to watch your back more out there. Never be afraid to call for backup. You’re a shining light in this city, kid, your death would be bigger than you. There’ve been lots of Robins, there’s only one Spoiler.”

Stephanie was just staring at him, she was so shocked that her verbal filter went offline for a moment. “Thanks, that’s awfully nice for an undead Zombie dude who’s been following around a bunch of teenagers for months.”

Everyone stared at Stephanie as her eyes went wide. The atmosphere relaxed as Jason started laughing heartily. He put an arm around Stephanie’s shoulders. “Oh little sis, we’re going to get along great.”

Stephanie grinned, “Oh my gosh, you’re making an eight-year-old Timmy real jealous.”

Tim blushed even further.

Then they heard footsteps coming down the cave.

“Master Bruce, have you returned, I heard that you may be bringing back a-” he locked eyes with Jason, and he felt like he moved in slow motion. He dropped the tray on the ground as he froze in place.

“Hey Al,” Jason said. He let go of Stephanie and approached the butler grandfather.

“Master Jason? Is that- is that really you?”

“Yeah, I’m back, I promise. I’m not going anywhere.”

“My dear boy, come here,” Alfred said. Jason hugged the old man. “Oh you’ve gotten all grown up.”

Jason nodded and pulled back. He rubbed his white hair, “We’re matching now.”

Alfred chuckled slightly at that, “Well, yours certainly looks better than mine.” He touched the bald top of his head.

That night, Bruce sent the kiddos plus Dick to sleep, and he and Jason and Alfred stayed up for a late night drink.

They each had a generous pouring of scotch and they were sitting in the living room.

“Jaylad, tell us what we’ve missed,” Bruce said encouragingly.

“Yes, I am awfully curious as to how this has all arisen,” Alfred added.

“Well, about six months after I died, I woke up,” Jason began. He looked down and examined his hands, “I had to dig my way out.” It explained the numerous scars on his fingers. “They make coffins like, way too thick by the way.” Bruce and Alfred looked a little sick. “It was mostly a blur for a while after that. I wasn’t quite all there because I probably suffocated myself a little when I was trying to dig out. So anyway, I walked around with a touch of brain damage for a while. Talia found me wandering around and took me to Nanda Parbat. Damian was just little then and he took a liking to me, I guess. She kept trying to fix my brain, but nothing worked so she decided to dump me in a Lazarus pit.”

“She knew you were alive, all this time?” Bruce asked. Mentally he was thinking about all the things he wanted to yell at Talia, that she had kept not only one son from him, but two.

“Yeah…” Jason sighed. “She didn’t want to send either of us back here. She didn’t think it was safe anymore since I died. That’s actually kind of why I came here as Ghost. She said she wouldn’t give Damian to you even though things were getting worse in the League because she thought he would be safer with her. So I had to haul my undead ass over here and set a precedent.”

Jason spoke easily. He had had a while to come to terms with everything that had happened. He also had Talia there to talk to whenever things became a little too much to handle.

“Anyway, so I trained with a lot of people, it was… different. Talia sent me to the All Caste, which was… probably exactly what I needed.”

“I’ve never heard of the All Caste,” Bruce said.

“They’re… a little more mystical than corporeal. Talia used to train with them. Basically their goal is to wipe out these creatures called the Untitled. But they won like… a thousand years ago, so they’ve just been chilling in this… interdimensional area where time doesn’t really work right.”

“Well that sounds like quite the adventure, Master Jason,” Alfred said.

“Yeah, it was. I was there for, I don’t know, maybe ten years? And then I come back to the real world and find out it’s only been a couple of weeks, it was insane, even for me.”

Bruce blinked. “So you were gone for 15 years?”

“For me, yes. I needed it though, I came back to Gotham and I was about this close to killing you because I had raging Pit Madness and really bad untreated PTSD, and the pit madness didn’t go away until like 3 years ago.”

“And the PTSD?” Bruce asked.

Jason chuckled, “Well I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be going away any time soon.”

“Damian said you had a confrontation with Ra’s before you left,” Bruce inquired.

Jason’s expression darkened. “Damian almost broke his back climbing a mountain with a broken wrist because Ra’s told him to get an artifact from the top and bring it back or to not come back at all. Of course, Talia didn’t tell me about this, so the kid comes back in really rough shape, Talia’s freaking out, I’m freaking out and Ra’s announces that his spine is too weak and he wants to replace the vertebrae with metal ones. So I told him where to stick his metal spine and I fought him. Fucking Deathstroke broke it up just before I was going to win too.”

Bruce had heard the story of Damian climbing the mountain with a broken wrist. He thought it had been an exaggeration. He should have known better.

Obviously, Bruce’s expression wasn’t subtle. “I know. I’m glad that shitstain is gone.”

“Cheers to that, Master Jason,” Alfred said.

They sat drinking all night, Jason asked them to fill him in on all the family and superhero drama that he had missed.

Dick came downstairs the next morning to find Bruce and Jason passed out in the sitting room and Alfred making breakfast.

Dick smiled a little at their sleeping forms. “Hey Alfred, long night?”

“Unbelievably, but it was illuminating nonetheless,” the older man responded.

Dick sat down in the breakfast nook in the corner of the kitchen. “When I hugged him he acted like I was about to hit him or something.”

“Master Dick,” Alfred began, putting down his spatula. “You and Master Jason never did have a very… close relationship. Not like how you and Master Damian do.” Alfred’s omission of Tim hit Dick like a slap in the face. “It may take time.”

Dick swallowed and nodded, “Right, yeah, that makes sense.”

“Tt. What makes sense?” Damian asked as he entered the kitchen.

“Nothing important. I’m just being an idiot.”

“Indeed nothing unusual.”

“Hey!” Dick protested.

Damian took food and sat across from Dick. He then straightened when Jason entered the kitchen.

“Master Jason, up so soon?” Alfred said almost teasingly.

Jason smiled, “Some of us can handle our liquor, unlike Brucie over there who never drinks real champagne.”

“Ahki,” Damian began. “How are you this morning?”

Jason rolled his eyes at Damian’s formality. “I’m good, a little sore from sleeping in an armchair but-” he shrugged “-what can you do?”

“Tt. Pick better sleeping arrangements, obviously.”

Jason sat down next to Damian and ruffled his hair. “Brat.”

Bruce was the next to enter the kitchen. His hair was all eskew, but he looked only a little hungover. “Thanks,” he mumbled to Alfred when he collected his breakfast. Then he started to shuffle out of the kitchen.

“Hey, old man, where the hell do you think you’re going?” Jason called.

“I have a meeting in-” he checked his watch, blinked, rubbed his eyes and then looked again. “-20 minutes. I have to go to work.”

Jason looked very unimpressed. “Jesus,” he muttered as he turned back to his own food. “What a mess.”

“Just wait,” Damian spoke. He almost seemed excited about something.

A few minutes later, Tim Drake walked into the kitchen. Walked, was not the right word to describe the zombie-like movement of the boy. He was dragging his feet, his eyes were only open a sliver. He was typing something on a tablet, but there was no way he would have been able to see what it was he was doing. He kept sniffing around and seemingly he guided himself by the smell of coffee. All that on top of the fact that he definitely fell asleep in a suit last night, and Jason was concerned.

“What the fuck is this?” Jason whispered.

“That’s Tim in the morning, observe,” Dick said. He stood and went to Tim. “Hey Timmy? You awake?”

Tim’s mouth moved, and some sounds came out, but there were few people who would have been generous enough to call them words, and none of those people were in the Wayne kitchen.

“You ready to go to work, Timmy?”

“Huh, wuh. Uh. im wuh.”

Alfred handed Dick a cup of coffee for the teen.

“Here’s your coffee Tim.”

Tim’s eyes suddenly opened fully and Jason nearly jumped in his seat when Tim moved at lightning-fast speeds to snatch the mug out of Dick’s hands.

He threw it back like it was a shot of vodka and he didn’t spill a drop.

“What’s wrong with him?” Jason asked Damian.

“Tt. Too many things to count. He is truly an imbecile.”

Tim was now seemingly more alert, “Dick?” He asked as if he just noticed that Dick was standing in front of him.

“Hey baby bird,” Dick said with a small smile. “How’re you doing?”

“Hn,” Tim responded in his best impression of Bruce.

Bruce then, as though summoned by the grunt, appeared in the doorway.

“Ready for work, Tim?”

Alfred gave Tim a thermos with coffee in it, along with a sandwich for their drive.

“Thanks,” Tim said.

“Have a good day, Master Bruce, Master Tim.”

Jason sighed as they departed. “He needs some serious help.” He then stood and stretched his arms over his head. “I’m going for a run, I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Can I join you?” Dick asked.

Jason frowned, “Don’t you have a job?”

“Yep, I have today off!” Dick chirped.

Jason did not look convinced, but he agreed.

Alfred took Damian to school and the two boys took off for their jog.

Jason led Dick through the woods behind the manor on a trail that he clearly remembered very well. It led down to a creek and a bit of a clearing, and Jason finally slowed down.

Dick was out of breath, as was Jason, so they just stood there in silence for a second.

“Hey Little Wing?” Dick asked. Jason looked at him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was such a shitty brother. I… I tried harder with Tim and with Damian. I… I messed up with Tim, but Damian, I was a good brother to Damian. I’m sorry, I want to try again.”

Jason looked at him critically. “I know, I’ve kept an eye on Damian. He likes you.” Dick’s heart swelled. The kid was hard to read sometimes. “I know why you were so cold, so distant. I get it. Bruce replaced you with me, or at least it felt like it. It’s not really  _ you _ , so I’m sorry that I’ve been weird.”

Dick frowned, “What do you mean it’s not me?”

Jason frowned more, “Doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter, it matters to me why you can’t look me in the eye, Jay!” Dick protested.

“It’s not about you, Dick. Not everything is.”

Dick took a breath and relaxed his shoulders. “Okay, fine. I don’t believe you, but fine, I’m letting it go.”

Jason rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, drama queen.”

“So, why’d we come here?” Dick asked.

“I like it, I used to come here all the time when I lived in the manor.” Jason remembered with a wistful smile. “It’s kind of stupid, but I used to come here and pretend I was a Jedi and I’d take a stick and fight pretend sith lords and stuff. One day, I come out here and Bruce is waiting in a black bathrobe with a red lightsaber and where I left my stick on the ground there’s a blue one.” Jason grinned. “We would come out here and do lightsaber duels all the time. And whenever there was a Star Wars marathon on TV, we’d blow off patrol and stay up all night.” Jason turned to look at Dick, “Something tells me he doesn’t really do stuff like that anymore.”

“No, not since…” Dick trailed off.

Jason looked more determined. “I’m gonna try and fix it, for Tim and Damian and Stephanie. You want in?”

Dick grinned and clapped Jason on the shoulder. “Definitely.”

* * *

**Deleted Scene Number Five: 'Alternate Ending #2'**

**This was oddly enough the ending to one of the first versions I wrote of this story. I find it funny because my ending to the final version basically looped back around to this. Honestly, rereading it, I like the press scene better in this one but, c'est la vie, I suppose.**

“So, I was thinking,” Bruce began. “We’re going to need to change your legal status, which… will not be easy.”

Jason shrugged, “You don’t have to.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes at him, “Yes, we do, because you’re not going to just stay holed up in this house forever.”

“You could just say I’m a live-in bodyguard.”

Bruce frowned. “I want you to be able to go to school, and make friends, and not have to lie all the time.”

Jason felt uncomfortable with all the emotions in the room, so he shrugged and acted like it didn’t matter, mostly because he was afraid to admit that he really, really wanted it.

So the next week, Jason and Bruce and Dick were at the courthouse, surrounded by paparazzi, all scrabbling to get the story of how Jason Todd-Wayne was still alive.

Bruce held a press conference after the legal documents were all worked out. He had told Jason that he was free to make up whatever story he wanted the world to know. So Jason was incharge of answering all the questions.

“Mister Todd!” Vicky Vale shouted and raised her hand.

Jason looked at her, “It’s just Wayne now.”

“Right, Mister Wayne. Are we supposed to believe that you were magically revived after all this time?” She asked scathingly.

Jason chuckled. “Well, as much as I make zombie jokes, no. I was never actually dead.”

“Then who did the Waynes bury?” She asked.

“There was a child in the explosion,” Jason explained. “They found his body, and since that was my last known location, they assumed that it was me, and that made sense. It was no one’s fault.”

Tim was listening and taking notes discreetly so that they could create evidence to back up Jason’s story.

“So if you weren’t caught in the explosion, then where have you been this entire time?” She asked.

“Well, once I was announced dead, my kidnappers knew they were in trouble, because no one would ever believe it was really me, because they had supposedly found a body. So they took me with them, back to their base of operations. As it turned out they were somewhat of a terrorist cell. In an ironic twist, that place got blown up too, and I did get caught in that explosion. I had some traumatic brain injuries that really made those next few years a little difficult to remember, but a while ago, the fog just… lifted, and I managed to make my way back to Gotham. Then I went home, and it was a very strange reunion, but of course, my dad recognized me right away.”

Tim smiled gratefully at Jason, there wasn’t much that Tim was going to have to do to verify this story. Especially since, in subsequent questions, such as: “What terrorist cell was it that took you?” Jason would simply reply with: “I’m sorry, I wish I knew. I’m still very foggy on that entire time.”

So Jason was back, and promptly enrolled in Princeton, which was only a 45 minute drive from Gotham, so it was a long, but easy commute to and from. He was doing a double major in English and Sociology.

As for their nightlife, Jason continued operating as Ghost. He almost exclusively operated in the Alley and the Bowrey. The people there started calling him the Ghost of Crime Alley, that only haunted the people who exploited them.

His first meeting with the commissioner had gone… strangely.

Batman had brought them all in on a case he was working, and Bruce and Jason were talking to Jim.

The man started a little when Ghost appeared beside Batman in his white suit. “Jesus!” Jim exclaimed.

Jason wanted to make a clever quip, but he contained himself.

“Commissioner, this is Ghost,” Batman introduced.

“Sup.”

Jim frowned, “Is he another new one? You have a problem, Batman.”

“I’m not new, I’m actually old,” Jason said.

Jim glanced at Batman for an explanation. “This is the second Robin, Jim.”

Jim’s eyes widened. He tried to swallow down the shock. “Oh… well, welcome back, son. Good to know the rumours weren’t true.”

Batman and Ghost shared a look that Gordon absolutely ignored, because he could not handle the idea that that little boy had been brutally murdered by the Joker, he couldn’t.

The police officers liked working with Ghost more than the other Bats, because whenever he showed up, he was mostly a silent observer, not trying to take over the crime scene or the investigation. He also was way better than them at getting statements from victims, not to mention confessions from criminals.

Jason graduated with his Bachelor's degree in two years by taking on an obscene course load. He then jumped right into a combined Masters/PhD program. His speciality? Social engineering. He wrote his dissertation on how a limiting force on the drug trade would be more effective than an all out ban like most of the world had.

Then, Jason applied for the job of head of social programming at Wayne Enterprises.

“Congratulations, Jaylad,” Bruce said with a proud smile.

“I didn’t get picked because I’m Jason Wayne, did I?” Jason asked.

“I can’t speak for the other board members, but I looked at every single application, and I can honestly say that you were one of the most highly qualified for the position.”

Everything was going great. Jason loved his job. The city loved Jason. Crime Alley loved Ghost. And the family was more together than they had been in a long time.

Then, something strange happened.

Alfred was the only one in the manor when the woman arrived. She was inhumanly pale, had white hair just a shade lighter than her skin, and she had piercing blue eyes.

“I need to see Jason, it’s urgent,” she spoke with an accent that Alfred couldn’t place.

“I’m afraid Master Jason is at work right now, but please, come inside. They will be home shortly.” He led her inside. “Can I get you any food or refreshments?”

“I would not be opposed to a glass of water, thank you.”

“May I ask how you know Master Jason?”

“He and I have been the only ones to complete the All Caste training in seven hundred years,” she explained. “He was my mother’s chosen successor.”

Something about the way she said that last piece of information told Alfred all he needed to know about the situation.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Alfred said.

The woman shrugged. “We had hundreds of years together. Neither of us had regrets.”

“And, what is your name, Miss…?”

“Essence.”

They made slightly awkward small talk until Jason, along with Bruce and Tim, came back from Wayne Enterprises.

“Alfred, I’ve decided enough is enough, no more coffee for Tim. Maybe decaff, but that’s it. I’m taking the rest of it and burning it and-”

Jason froze as he heard a familiar laugh. He turned to see someone he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Essence,” he started. “It’s good to see you.”

“It is good to see you as well, Jason. I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Jason frowned. “What happened?”

“Ducra has passed on,” Essence said.

Jason took a step toward the woman. “I’m sorry, Essence. I know the two of you were close.”

Essence had a slightly pained smile, “No, the two of  _ you _ were close.”

Jason rolled his eyes and smiled a little, “Please, she hated me and my guts.”

Essence shook her head, smiling as she remembered how many times her mother had hit Jason over the head with her cane. “She loved you.” She pushed those memories back. “Anyways, she left it all to you, Jason. The All Caste, the Acres of All, everything.”

“You should take it, Essence,” Jason said. “We both know I was never really going to belong there.”

“Did we both know that?” Essence asked. “What about what you said? That you were going to come back?”

“I was, I had planned to go for a few months two years from now, and tell your mom that she should give everything to you.”

“But you weren’t going to stay?” She asked, a little hurt. “What about us?”

At that point, Alfred, Bruce and Tim, who had been listening to the entire conversation decided to make sure both Jason and Essence knew that they were there.

[from there just imagine generally the same ending of the main story]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, The End for real now!


End file.
